Failsafe
by Hannanora-Potter
Summary: Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong… Post DH
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **A/N:** This starts off _**slow**_ and it takes a long time for the fellowship to come into play so please be patient. It will pick up eventually. Also I'm not a LotR expert (although I've learnt more from writing this than I ever knew before) so please forgive any small mistakes. Enjoy!

 **Chapter One**

"So… this is the Chosen One's idea of a date?"

Harry Potter blinked, turning away from the bustle of activity to look quizzically at Ginny Weasley, who was surveying the scene with one eyebrow raised.

Harry fought the urge to smirk and instead adopted a horrified expression. "What, you're not super impressed?" he gasped, mocking. "I'll let you know that this site is where I battled _actual evil_!"

Ginny shot him a grin. "But the sea salt is _totally_ messing with my hair," she teased him, pouting as she flipped her ruby locks over her shoulder.

Harry laughed outright at that, but quickly stopped as the sound echoed and distorted in the dark cavern they were standing in. Unconsciously the two inched closer together and Harry reminded himself that _this_ was why he had asked her here.

Since the downfall of Voldemort barely three months ago Harry had made it his job to ensure that all trace of Voldemort's powers and magicks were wiped from the face of the Earth. Whilst he was confident that the aforementioned Dark Lord was well and truly dead (and he had the body to prove it) it was better safe than sorry. The last thing he needed was an aspiring dark lord to get his hand on any of Voldemort's rituals or dark artefacts. Even worse, it was always possible someone could figure out how to raise him from beyond the grave. His experiences with the Deathly Hallows had shown him that death was not necessarily the completely permanent oblivion he had always supposed.

So, in between fighting, rounding up and prosecuting the remaining death eaters, aiding in the rebuilding of various decimated homes and structures and actually spending time with his friends and family, this was what Harry did with his time. Voldemort cleansing. After all, there was no one else alive that knew as much about the Dark Lord as he.

As Harry looked around the dank entrance to the horcrux cave he had visited with Dumbledore he felt another shiver of apprehension run down his spine. This place, more than any other, haunted his dreams. He didn't know why, but something about this cave always felt sinister and malevolent in his mind. Being here in person certainly didn't do much to dispel that unease, despite the fact that what he _should_ be feeling was relief. This was, after all, the very last thing he had to deal with on his Voldemort 'to-do' list. Maybe that's why he felt both elated and nauseated. Once the cave was cleansed then he would be done. He would have to find a new purpose.

"Hey, Ginny, do you know what you're going to do next?" he asked suddenly of the red head beside him.

She made a face at him. "Unlike _some_ people I still have one more year to finish at Hogwarts," she reminded him, smiling. "Although what good it's going to do when I missed nearly half the year I'm not sure."

"At least you'll have Hermione," Harry pointed out.

Ginny sighed. "True. And detentions won't involve being tortured by the other students so at least that'll be an improvement," she quipped, although shadows in her eyes belied the amusement. She rallied herself quickly though. "I guess I don't need to ask what you're doing next, huh, Mr Chosen One."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You'd think they'd get tired of calling me that now," he commented with weary exasperation as he watched the small team of Unspeakables do their job in dismantling the blood wards that were the key to entering the inner chamber of the cave system. They were a strange quartet and had not given their names, something Harry found odd when you considered that they'd been working together for over a week now. But they quite liked their anonymity so Harry left it at that. In his head he called them simply by numbers.

"Oh, give them time," Ginny said. "I'm sure that given time they'll come up with something new and equally important and hyphenated. Hmm… maybe I'll get Luna to put a few suggestions in the Quibbler," she pondered wickedly.

"Don't you dare!" Harry snapped, half laughing. Dear a friend as Luna was he absolutely hated to think of what horrendous names she and her father could think up for him. It didn't bear even _thinking_ about.

As his and Ginny's laughs faded into the gloom of the cave he reflected suddenly that he had been right to bring her along on this last task. When he'd asked her she had looked surprised, quirking an eyebrow at him. Harry had merely shrugged in response to her unasked question. "This is cleaning up the last bit of my past – I want to spend it looking forward, not backwards," he'd said simply, although his face turned almost as red as hers did when she worked out what he meant.

And meant it he had. Ron and Hermione, though they shared everything with him, would have spent the time in the dark caves either reminiscing over what horrors Harry and Dumbledore had had to face (Ron) or speculating over the possible curses that Voldemort had instilled to destroy visitors (Hermione). He didn't need that, especially not when the cave disturbed his nights too much as it was. He needed a way to banish the blackness of this place; the sound of her laughter would probably do more good than all the Unspeakables in the ministry.

As though summoned by his thoughts, Witch Number Two came up to the couple. "Mister Potter," she greeted, formal but not cold. All the Unspeakables were like that, something Harry had to admit he preferred over the starry-eyed nonsense he occasionally got from other members of the Ministry. "We're just about ready to break through the first layer of enchantments. That should get us into the next chamber. Is there anything else you want to tell us?"

Harry shook his head and she bustled away, already ordering the rest of her team into place. He had already told them of everything he could remember about the chamber; the blood wards, the boat, the Inferi, the cursed potion… he swallowed uneasily and instead focussed on what was happening in front of him now.

Wizards One and Two were standing on either end of the blank piece of rock that concealed the entrance, backs straight and wands held upright. Witch One was standing in between them, a few steps from the wall, wand pointing straight down. She gave a short nod and then suddenly the cave was awash with a bright golden light.

"What are they doing?" Ginny asked, astonished. Harry smiled, remembering his own amazement when he first saw the little team perform this feat a little under a week ago. That had been at the old Gaunt cottage, but even that paled in comparison to what they saw now. The wards on the cave were obviously much stronger than that on the fireplace.

"They're sending out a series of runes to counteract the blood ward magic," he said, carefully pointing with one hand towards one of the golden streams of light. If they squinted you could just make out the graceful shapes in the swirling whorls of glistening light. "There, look – can you see the runes from the blood ward?"

Ginny followed his hand and her eyes widened slightly as she saw dark red runes emerge slowly on the walls surface. They seemed to pulse with an ugly beat but even as they watched a golden rune collided with one of them and there was a shower of sparks as the two melded together and dissolved, leaving the wall free. It had barely dissipated when there was another shower of sparks – and another. Soon the whole wall was alive with golden sparks, spiralling down and out from the centre until all was still.

It was beautiful.

"That was beautiful," Ginny said with a sigh, unknowingly echoing Harry's own thoughts. She looked over at him. "I didn't know you knew so much about runes."

Harry shook his head. "I don't," he said, voice surprisingly regretful. "But I saw them do that a week ago and asked. That's what they told me."

"It kind of makes me wish I had taken Ancient Runes instead of Arithmancy in third year," Ginny said, watching as the last glimmers of golden light faded.

"Well I wish I'd taken _anything_ over than Divination in my third year," Harry grumbled. Aside from being a completely pointless subject his life had been far too entangled with prophecies as it is. If he'd known about the Prophecy he would have steered well clear of Trelawney. "And anyway, you actually need a combination of Arithmancy _and_ Ancient Runes to ward effectively." At Ginny's raised eyebrow he smiled and elaborated. "I asked."

Suddenly there was a great rumble. Both Ginny's and Harry's attention snapped back to the cave just in time to see the cave wall shudder and then, groaning, slide sideways. The three Unspeakables who had been performing the spell sagged but still let out a small cheer. Witch Two, who had been supervising the wall, came over to them.

"Well, Mr Potter, that fell a lot easier than we were expecting," she said, smiling optimistically. "That's the problem with these dark blood wards – the witches and wizards that build them are so sure of their dark power – not to mention the power of blood – that they often don't put in extra measures to stop witches and wizards circumnavigating them and taking them down from behind. We do however believe that the lack of extra precautions here is because the real dangers lie in the inner chamber – in the Inferi and enchantments on the island you told us about."

Harry nodded, although secretly he felt a little twinge of apprehension. He doubted Voldemort ever made _anything_ easy, whether on purpose or not. But then again Voldemort's weaknesses were his arrogance and belief in his superiority and intellect. "Can we go through?"

The witch shook her head. "Not just yet, Mr Potter," she said. "We will send two of us in first to check the immediate vicinity, just in case our taking down of the ward has triggered a different enchantment on the inside than those you told us of." Even as she was telling them this, Wizard Two and Witch One were disappearing into the darkness beyond.

"Well, let us know when it's safe for us," Harry said, trying to fight the nerves he felt when looking at that black hole.

"Of course, Mr Potter."

"Hey. You alright?" Ginny asked him quietly as Witch Two went back to stand with her colleague.

"Fine," he lied automatically.

"Harry…"

"Fine… ok, not completely fine but… this place it – it haunts me, you know," he finished in a rush, not quite sure how he could explain the way this cave was always at the back of his mind… how even standing within sight of the entrance was enough to send his stomach churning and echoes of Dumbedore's pleading reverberated across his mind. If he closed his eyes he could even feel the clammy dead hands of the Inferi as they dragged him towards the lake…

How could he explain that?

He looked down at her and suddenly realised he didn't have to. Her brown eyes were sad but didn't hold any pity. What they held were understanding.

"You know, for years I could never even go near Myrtles bathroom," she commented softly, eyes unfocused. "If my route took me past that landing I would go out of my way to avoid it, even if it added another 15 minutes on my journey. I told you I couldn't remember anything when… when _he_ possessed me and that's true. But once he was gone…" She shuddered and looked directly at him once more. "It was like he'd left echoes of himself in me; echoes that only came out at night. Sometimes when I slept I could feel the bones of the roosters necks snap as I – he…"

"I didn't know," Harry said softly, once again feeling shame. Too often in the past he had forgotten that Ginny had gone through her own terrible ordeal. He felt as self-involved and petty as he had back in fifth year when he was worried about being possessed.

"Why should you?" Ginny asked, with wry humour. "You saved my life, Harry, but you were just a boy and we weren't friends."

"But I still should have – "

"Shush, Potter, that's not why I'm telling you this," Ginny said firmly. "I'm telling you because, five weeks ago, I asked Ron to take me down to the Chamber of Secrets."

Harry stared at her. "You – what?"

"I wrote to McGonagall and bullied Ron into taking me down," she confirmed, looking him straight in the eyes. "It was horrible but it was what I needed. I've been in there, now – Tom is gone, the Basilisk is dead and I have walked through the Chamber and come out in one piece. It was what I needed to finally lay my fears at rest." She took a deep breath and carried on. "What I'm trying to say is that maybe this is _your_ Chamber and this is what you need to do to finally be free of it."

There was silence as Harry continued to stare at her, not knowing what to say. Good Merlin, she was incredible.All those years she had suffered with her memories of the Chamber, with her nightmares. She knew what it was like and had come through it. She had come through it and was one of the most amazing, strongest people he knew.

Ginny blushed and he belatedly realised he'd said that last bit out loud. "I mean it, Ginny," he said, sternly before laughing. "If you can face the Chamber then I can face this cave."

Ginny laughed too. "That's my Chosen One."

"Oh, shut up."

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

That's the first chapter! Hope you enjoyed it and like I said at the start – this is **slow** in terms of getting into the main part of the story (as in to M.E.)!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Chapter Two**

The light from their wands glinted dully in the crystal formations around them. Harry didn't know what kind of rocks they were, but they somehow seemed to make the reflected light dimmer and gloomier, if such a thing were possible. Harry shivered although the Chamber wasn't really cold.

"Up here, Mr Potter," Wizard One called out, his voice echoing strangely in the vast emptiness of the cave. Although they didn't say anything, both Ginny and Harry simultaneously sped up slightly. The sooner they got out of this place the better.

The three Unspeakables that had come inside had positioned themselves just to the left of the small jetty where the boat lay sunken. Harry stared at it, unseeing, as his mind whirled back to his trip with Professor Dumbledore. Could it only have been a year ago? It seemed like a lot longer than that.

"Ah, Mr Potter, Miss Weasley," Wizard Two greeted, looking up from where he and Wizard One were crouched against the nearest wall. "You'll be happy to hear that, aside from the anti-apparition/port-key ward we were expecting, there doesn't seem to be any sign of secondary enchantments in the cavern proper."

"What about the Inferi in the water?" Harry asked.

Witch One shook her head. "They're only a concern if one of us disturbs the water with anything other than the boat," she confirmed. "It's actually a rather ingenious bit of spell-work."

"Yes, well, that Voldemort was a _real_ genius," Ginny bit out sarcastically. The Unspeakable looked startled for a moment before blushing and apologising.

Harry ignored them, still partly lost in memories. He peered out over the vast dark lake, where he could just make out the small island. Unexpectedly, this time his thoughts didn't turn towards Dumbledore. Instead, his thoughts turned to Kreacher and from there to Regulus. He shuddered, unable to help imagining what it would be like to have let the Inferi have their way; to let himself be dragged down under the loathsome waters by decaying hands. Harry still wasn't sure where he stood when it came to Severus Snape. That the man had given up his life in more ways than one to help protect Harry and work against Voldemort was undeniable… however he definitely wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that Snape had done it all because of a childhood obsession with his mum. But whatever his thoughts on Snape, Harry was clear; Regulus Black had been one of the bravest and strongest individuals he had ever come across.

He was going to make sure that if Regulus was down there than that he would be retrieved and given a proper burial. He owed at least that much to the man.

"Mr Potter?"

Harry jumped and realised that one of the wizards had been speaking to him. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I was wondering if you could show us exactly how you raised the boat, whilst my colleague works on the apparition wards?" Wizard One asked politely.

"Oh, erm, sure," Harry agreed, moving across to the jetty.

"We took the liberty of cancelling the invisibility charm," the Wizard said as Harry stared at the chains that would pull up the boat. "We've also done a preliminary check over the chains but there doesn't appear to be anything malicious in there."

"We're hoping that once the boat is 'activated', as it were, that we can look at the enchantments that keep the Inferi docile," Witch Two added, peering over his shoulder.

"Why couldn't you two activate the boat?" Ginny asked, curiously.

"We want to keep an eye on the process," Wizard Two said with a faint smile, attention riveted on the river.

"Also Mr Potter's magical signature is already in the cave from his previous time here," Witch Two said. "We don't want to add anything else to the mix."

"Oh," Ginny said, smiling at Harry. "That makes sense I guess."

He smiled back at her. "Are you ready?" he asked Wizard Two somewhat nervously. At his nod, Harry swallowed, mustered up his courage and tapped his wand to the chains.

And then it all went wrong.

There was a great crash and all five of them whirled behind them to see that the faint glimmer of light coming from the outer chamber was gone. The opening had closed.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, wand out but still seeming calm. "Did that happen last time?"

Harry shook his head. "No. It didn't." They looked over at the gobsmacked Unspeakables for answers.

Wizard One looked down at the chains for the boat and cursed loudly. "There's something else tied in here – something to do with the wards at the front."

"What does it do?" Witch One snapped.

He shook his head. "It's not set here… let me follow it back to the source." With that he went tripping off along the ground, bent double to follow the trail of runes.

"It's ok," Witch One reassured the two of them, although the shakiness of her voice belied her own confidence. "Don't forget there's one of us outside. They should be able to get the door open again."

Then the hissing started.

Ginny's hand tightened its grip on his arm but when Harry looked across at her she wasn't looking at him; instead her eyes darted around the rocks around them, wand up and ready for attack. He followed her example, his own grip tightening as the hissing grew louder.

The Unspeakables around them had also frozen again, the cool, emotionless masks they wore earlier were starting to crumble. Formidable witches and wizards they might be, but the Unspeakables were unused to combat and many of their field operatives had been killed in the war. Those with them were just researchers.

"Apparation wards?" Harry called out, trying to keep his voice calm. He wasn't sure how well he succeeded. The call itself was almost lost in the spitting hisses around them that were getting louder every second.

He'd never thought he'd miss his paseltongue ability.

His words seemed to galvanise Wizard Two into action. "Still up," he shouted, hurriedly twisting his wand into different rune shapes to try and combat the anti-apparition barrier.

"Can you work out what the hissing is saying, Potter?" Witch One asked him, clutching her wand and eyes zooming all over the empty space before them.

Harry shook his head. "No; I lost my parseltongue ability when… er, when Voldemort died," he finished hurriedly. It wasn't common knowledge he had housed a horcrux and he wanted it kept that way.

The Unspeakable looked askance at him at that but didn't have time to say something as suddenly their meagre lumos spells weren't the only source of light. Somewhere in the cave was glowing… glowing green…

"What is that?" Ginny asked, her words faster and sharper than usual. He could see the emerald light reflecting in her own brown ones. For a moment it looked as though she had stolen his own eyes…

"It's a failsafe," Wizard One said, swearing loudly. He had followed the rune trail back to the wall and was now crouched down next to his colleague, swirling his wand in a different series of runes. His eyes looked wide and panicked, even as he continued his spells.

"Failsafe?" Harry repeated, exchanging uneasy looks with Ginny. He had thought Voldemort might leave something behind but he rather thought it would have something to do with the army of Inferi beneath the lake's surface, not this… whatever this was. He shivered and drew Ginny closer whilst not restricting their movement. It was still possible that the Inferi were going to attack.

The Unspeakable was shaking his head, almost completely lost to panic now. "It's a spell, building in the crystals of the cave… I don't know how he put it there, it's supposed to be impossible… I don't know how to stop it…"

"What spell?" Ginny asked, but even as she asked Harry could tell that she knew. That green light was far too familiar to anyone these days…

"The Killing Curse." It was a whisper, but somehow they still heard it, even above the malevolent hisses.

"Lucky for me I'm with someone who's survived it twice then," Ginny quipped lightly, but her eyes showed her true terror. She knew, just as Harry, that he couldn't come back from the Killing Curse this time. His mother's love could not protect him from this and, somewhat ironically, there was no Voldemort around to anchor him to life. There was only one way out.

"Dismantle the apparition wards!" Harry roared, eyes flickering everywhere for an enemy that would not come. The spell was all around them, building in the walls, the roof, the pillars – even crystals underneath their feet were glowing now. The only possible escape in the cavern was to dive into the water… and even if the Killing Curse did not penetrate that then they would be ripped apart and devoured by the Inferi that remained.

"I'm trying!" the wizard yelled, voice hoarse from barely restrained terror. Wizard One quickly shifted from examining the failsafe to aiding his colleague but it wasn't going to be enough. The pressure was building, the light more intense, the hissing loud enough to make his ears hurt.

And through the backdrop of it all he could almost hear Voldemort's maniacal laughter. He hadn't managed to get rid of his nemesis in life but through his long-feared death he'd finally managed to kill the Boy-Who-Lived.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," he said, words too little and small to convey all that he was feeling. He could barely even look at her. All that time trying to protect her last year and for _nothing_.

Her hand squeezed his and he looked over at her properly now. Her eyes were teary and wide from fear, but there was no hate. "I know," she said simply, and then pulled him in for a kiss.

Then…

"The wards are falling!"

Harry and Ginny broke apart at the Unspeakable's jubilant cry. Harry closed his eyes and felt the wards begin to flicker but they weren't down yet. "How long?" he snapped at the exhausted man.

"About a minu-"

The green light shot out from a nearby crystal and shot through his chest. He died with a smile on his face before the green light had even dissipated. Before they even had time to realise what had happened.

"Harry – "

Ginny gave a broken gasp and Harry almost dropped her in fright. She hadn't been hit though; her eyes were transfixed on somewhere just beyond his shoulder… looking at the black lake.

"Shit."

Green rays of light had been released from their crystals over the lake bed but they were not dissipating. In fact, they seemed to be multiplying. "That's… not possible," he said, weakly, even as what seemed to be a hundred _avada_ _kedavras_ began racing around above their heads.

"The rocks!" the witch besides them gasped. "They're _reflecting off the rocks!_ "

A sharp _zing_ behind them was all the warning they had before Harry and Ginny had dropped to the ground, a green arc of light shooting out over their heads. Another one shot out sideways, narrowly missing Harry's ear. Even their position on the ground was unsafe as the ground beneath them glowed that same deadly green. They had to get out of there. Now!

"How long?" Harry roared again at the other Unspeakable manning the wards. The man couldn't answer though; his eyes were glassy and staring in abject terror. He was dead.

"Harry, the wards are weakening – we're going to have to punch through," Ginny hissed breathlessly, hand still gripping his almost compulsively.

"Are you crazy?" the Unspeakable witch said, crouching down next to the two of them to avoid another jet of green. "Do you have any idea what could happen if you apparate through an incomplete – not to mention _failing_ – ward?"

Ginny stared at her incredulously. "Are you bloody _joking_?"

As ridiculous as it was, the witch actually blushed at that but it was the last thing she would ever do. As she fell backwards Harry felt Ginny scream before he was pushed roughly sideways and a jet of green shot up from the ground where they had been lying a split second before.

"We've got to go _NOW_!"

The flickers of the wards were happening faster but so were the viridian beams. In fact the whole cavern was now bathed in such strong green light that Ginny's skin looked snakelike and her hair black as night. The only reason they had not been so far hit was that they were lying on the ground but even that was short lived as another jet of green burst up from the ground not two inches from Harry's foot. If they didn't leave instantly they would die.

As it was, they left it too late.

Even as Harry squeezed Ginny and visualised Grimmauld Place; even as the edges of the cavern dimmed in his vision; even as he felt the familiar squeeze of apparition…

He still saw the beams of green light shooting towards them…

He felt Ginny's terrified gasp…

His vision was nothing but green…

The Killing Curse Hit…

… and they were gone.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

I may have created a kind of cobbled up version of the cave from both the film and the book… whoops! But it was what worked for me And the story, of course!

Thanks for reading (and reviewing).

Love, Hannanora xxx


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Three**

Everything was black.

As Harry's mind slowly drifted back to consciousness, strange screams and yells echoed across his mind. He tried to concentrate on them but they remained indistinct – wordless cries of anguish and pain.

Pain… someone was in pain…

That thought penetrated the fog he was in and awareness suddenly rushed back to him. He opened his eyes.

There was nothing.

Harry blinked before closing his eyes and opening them again. Still the blackness surrounded him. For a split second Harry panicked – was he blind? – but no… there was something about the way his eyes strained in the darkness that told him he _was_ seeing… only there was nothing there to see.

Where _was_ he?

It was as this thought rose to the surface that he suddenly became aware of the fact that he was sprawled, rather uncomfortably, on the floor. It wasn't a flat floor either; Harry gasped as he shifted slightly, only to find something hard and sharp digging into his ribs. His arm was stiff but he could still move it. Prodding carefully at the object that had stabbed him, he encountered only cold, rough rocks.

He must have fallen along the various rock formations along the path in the cave when he –

The cave!

At that Harry's memory came back full force and he jerked upright, causing an avalanche of smaller rocks to tumble down and batter him. He froze, wanting desperately to move away from where he was wedged but also fearful of bringing down another more dangerous rock fall. What if the spells had destabilised the cave?

But then again, what was he still doing in the cave? Harry frowned. He had been apparating away – him and Ginny both – but there had been the green light. He had felt it hit – felt the energy strike them – but they had already been disappearing – and that was the last thing he remembered…

What had _happened_? For there was one thing that Harry was sure about; he was _not_ dead. Being dead did not hurt – he knew, he'd been there before. Being dead was not like this… but surely he should be dead? And what about Ginny?

"Ginny?" he croaked out before breaking into a deluge of coughs. Whatever had happened his 'landing' here had been rough and his chest felt tighter than usual. The dust raised by the impromptu rock slide hadn't helped either. "Ginny, are you here?"

He looked around frantically in the dark, straining his eyes to try and get a glimpse of the red head. ' _Idiot,_ ' Harry suddenly thought to himself. ' _Use your wand._ '

His faithful phoenix and holly wand wasn't in his hand but hopefully it wasn't too far away. He refused to consider it had been crushed in the rock fall. " _Lumos_!" he called.

There! A bright merry light pierced the darkness around him and he screwed his eyes shut as the light blinded his night-sensitive eyes. Blinking away his tears, Harry inched his eyes open enough to catch a glimpse of bright red hair. "Ginny!"

Reaching out and grabbing his wand, Harry quickly assessed the rocks over his legs. They seemed loose and didn't appear to be in danger of causing a cave in, although there was something strange about them. He ignored it and simply banished the rocks as best he could, scrambling over the smooth floor to where Ginny lay prone.

Her hair was spread out behind her like a waterfall of fire, glinting an even brighter cherry colour than usual in the face of the harsh light of Harry's wand. By that same light, her skin was even paler than usual… almost as though she was…

"Ginny, no! Ginny!" Harry hissed, terrified. Maybe that Killing Curse _had_ hit, just like he thought, but it had hit _her_ , not him. "Ginny, come on, wake up!"

There was no response from the motionless figure and Harry feared the worst… but then suddenly he choked out a sob of relief – she was _breathing_. "Oh, thank Merlin," he moaned, grabbing Ginny's warm hand in his. He quickly checked over her figure for any life threatening injuries, but found only a small bruise on her head. She had probably been knocked out like him by the fall.

As he sat there, waiting for Ginny to wake up, Harry wondered about what had gone wrong. He clearly remembered the curse striking him, but he just as clearly remembered disapparating. It made no sense whatsoever to still be alive _and_ in the cave. Either they had disapparated and arrived at Grimmauld place or the apparation should have failed and they should have stayed in the cave to be struck by the numerous other Killing Curses that were still zooming around the space.

Harry tried to peer beyond the small sphere of light provided by his wand. He couldn't see any of the Unspeakables, but then they could have been buried by the rock slides. Nor could he see any sign of the lake _or_ the path they had taken.

Holy Merlin. Harry's eyes widened. _They weren't in the cave at all!_

Finally his brain had caught up to what his eyes had been telling him was wrong about his surroundings all along. They were not piles of random stones and crystals, dislodged by a powerful curse in the cave. They were the remnants of a thick stone structure; the remains of a _building_.

"What the… where the hell _are_ we?"

"Mmm…" Harry jumped as Ginny stirred besides him.

"Ginny? Ginny, can you hear me?" Harry asked softly, trying not to sound as frantic as he felt.

"M-Harry?" Ginny groaned, sounding confused. He saw her scrunch up her eyes as she tried to open them. "What are you doing – holy shit!" Ginny sat bolt upright, just as Harry had done not two minutes before. "What the – but I felt it hit! I felt it _hit_!"

Her eyes were wide and confused and Harry swallowed. "Yeah. I did too."

She blinked at him. "But then… are we dead?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so," he said slowly, although the fact that she remembered being hit by the Killing Curse too rattled him somewhat. He had half hoped that was all in his imagination. "But I don't know where we are, either?"

"This isn't the cave?" Ginny asked sharply, looking around. Her eyes alighted on the stonework and she stared at it, pondering. "What do you think happened?"

Harry shrugged. Obscure spells and magical accidents were not his forte. "Well, we obviously apparated," he said slowly, thinking. "I must have lost my focus on our destination and we ended up somewhere in between."

"Somewhere in between?" Ginny repeated, expression unreadable. "If that's all that's happened then that's a bloody miracle. If you lost your focus when apparating surely all they'd be finding of us were body parts strewn along the path from the cave to Grimmauld Place? People have splinched themselves for far less." She shuddered and Harry almost joined her. His one, up close and personal experience of splinching had been far from pleasant.

"Well, it's just a theory," Harry said, almost snapping at her. With the wearing off of adrenaline he was feeling both exhausted and angry at Voldemort, yet again, managing to destroy lives.

There was a pause. "Sorry," Ginny said, suddenly. "I just… well…" She broke off with a sigh. "Shall we find a way out of here then?"

Harry grunted his affirmative and, after locating Ginny's wand for her with a handy _accio,_ they began to tentatively explore the space they were in. It was a large space, though not as large as the cave had been, and was in a very bad state of repair.

"Feels like some of those muggle ruins people always go visiting," Harry murmured softly as their joint wand light revealed yet another ruined partition.

He could feel Ginny's interest. "Muggles go visit _ruins_?" she repeated, bemused. "What on earth for?"

"Oh, you know – looking at how people lived in ages gone by," he said, non-committedly. He himself had only ever been to one such site before and that was on a mandatory class trip in primary school. It had been nothing like this though – for a starters it had had actual windows. "Visiting places were Kings and Queens had dwelt, where great historical events occurred, that sort of thing."

"I suppose that makes sense," Ginny said, pausing as something flashed in her wand light. Closer scrutiny revealed it to be thick, rusting metal chains. That exchanged an uneasy look but carried on, scrambling over the occasional pile of broken stonework. "We don't have so much of that in our history as the muggles. We're so restricted in where our society lives that anything of historical importance happens in the same places every time. The Ministry, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade…"

"What about those Goblin Wars?" Harry asked.

Ginny sent him a flat look. "If you honestly think _anyone_ cares about goblin wars after five mandatory years of Binns then you must have hit your head harder than I thought."

Harry laughed at that, but his laughter was oddly swallowed by the space surrounding them. He looked about uneasily. Now that the confusion – and elation – of their situation was wearing off, he was beginning to feel uncomfortable again. Just like he had in the cave. "Er, Ginny – "

"Look, Harry, steps!" Ginny suddenly shouted, jerking him forward towards where her wand light had just picked up on shallow pitted steps leading up out of their current confinement. He sagged in relief, not realising before just how tense he'd been. Once they got out then they could get their bearings and apparate somewhere safe. Once they got out then they would be in actual sunlight and wind for the first time in what seemed like hours.

Once they got out hopefully that sick, nervous feeling he felt would disappear and they would be safe.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

He should have known better than to test their luck.

"Is _this_ one of those muggle ruins, Harry?" Ginny asked quietly, staring up into the heights of the ruinous towers surrounding them. "Because it's bloody massive."

In actual fact, they could only hazard a guess as to how massive the towers truly were because wherever they were it was night time. That worried Harry, as it had only be early afternoon when they went into the cave. How long had they been unconscious?

"I have no idea," Harry said, eyes squinting to make out as much of the looming shapes around them as possible, "but somehow I doubt it."

For not only were they not in sunlight or any better acquainted with where they were, that tight feeling in his stomach had not dissipated with their emergence above ground. In fact it had only gotten worse. "What _is_ this place?" he whispered, utterly perplexed.

Besides him Ginny seemed to have caught his mood for she shuddered. "Whatever it is, I don't like it," she murmured quietly. Her movements were tense as her eyes darted around them. "It feels… _wrong_ somehow. Like the cave."

Harry stared at her, for that was exactly how _he_ felt about the castle. She mistook his look and scowled. "I know, I know, it's stupid," she said, "but I still can't shake the feeling that this place is evil."

"It is _not_ stupid," Harry said, "because I feel exactly the same way." They shared a brief smile before Harry shook himself out of it. "Come on; the sooner we get out of here the better."

Getting out was easier said than done. Whoever – or whatever – had lived in the Castle had been gone a long time. Most of the stone work was partly eroded and in several places had collapsed so much that the way was either impassable or like to come tumbling down around them at any moment. It also didn't help that it was a pitch black night and they needed both their hands to do climb the rubble. Eventually Harry and Ginny decided to carry their wands in their mouths, leaving both hands free to help themselves.

A small part of Harry said that he could get out of there much quicker if he would just use his magic… but by some unspoken agreement neither Ginny nor Harry even mentioned it. Harry guessed that she felt what he did; that to use more magic than necessary in this place was to bring all kinds of doom on them.

Given their recent experience in the cave it was not altogether surprising.

"What's that?"

Ginny's whisper suddenly broke through Harry's reveries. He froze, wand automatically back in his hand and in a defensive position before he realised that Ginny was pointing at something just in front and to the side of them. He squinted into the darkness. It was quite small and dark but there wasn't enough light to make it out clearly. Suddenly he realised what Ginny had noticed.

It looked like a _hand_.

He exchanged a tense glance with Ginny. She made a little shooing motion to indicate them going closer but Harry vehemently shook his head. He wasn't getting any closer to that thing until he knew exactly what it was. Besides, if it _was_ a living being then there was no way it couldn't know they were there; their light was soft but obvious in the stark blackness of their surroundings. That meant it was either unconscious…

… or this was a trap.

Ginny bit her lip, frowning, but the scowl wasn't aimed at him. Instead she twisted her wand in a silent _nox_ before swishing it again in a familiar spell. " _Expecto Patronum!"_

The pearly blue light of Ginny's horse patronus blossomed into sight, the creature rearing and shake its silvery mane silently as it came into being. Silently Ginny flicked her wand towards the hand and without a sound the patronus cantered off in its direction. Harry watched it go, the pool of light getting closer to the hand. A stupefy was waiting on his lips if the thing so much as _twitched…_

"Holy Merlin!"

Ginny's strangled cry startled him, but not as much as the gruesome sight that the patronus had unearthed.

The hand belonged to a dark figure but that figure would never be able to attack them. Stumbling after the patronus, Harry and Ginny stopped just short of the first figure, eyes widening as their wand light lit up more of them stretching back as far as their wand light could reach.

They were all burned.

Twenty, thirty – maybe even as many as fifty – blackened, charred figures were stretched out before them. Hands were mauled, twisted; it was easy to see that many of the bones had been broken and shattered as the charred flesh crumbled away. Some fingers still clutched to equally scorched weapons, most of them still carrying a brownish red stain that Harry belatedly realised was _not_ the result of a fire. There were so many of them…

"I don't understand," Ginny whispered, the slight shaking of her wand light the only indication of how she felt. "What could do this? _Who_ could do this?"

"Whoever did it, it was a long time ago," Harry said suddenly. "Look, that tree looks like it's grown up halfway through that body."

Ginny choked slightly. "I don't know if that makes it better or worse," she said, eyes over bright. "That they could just… just _slaughter_ them and leave them here. It's… it's…"

"Inhumane," Harry supplied, shivering.

Ginny turned to him suddenly. "You don't think this is _him_ , do you?"

Harry went to dismiss it outright but paused. These people could easily have been killed during the First War by Voldemort but he found it hard to believe that they had never been found. More to the point, he didn't believe that _Voldemort_ wouldn't want them found. Much of his power had come from reputation and fear – this was the perfect way to bring yet more families under his heel. If he had done this, he would have used it.

When he shared his thoughts with Ginny she had agreed, but didn't look reassured at all. "That means there is someone _else_ out there capable of doing this," she pointed out. "Someone we don't even _know_ about."

He didn't like to think about that.

Eventually they moved on, Ginny pausing only to say a few words for the unknown fallen. Meant to be there or not, Ginny and Harry were both determined that they would uncover what had happened here and get justice for the dead.

As they climbed away, Harry shuddered and tried to ignore the feeling burning into his back. He wasn't sure if Ginny could feel it too or if it was just in his imagination. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner that feeling would disappear.

The feeling of dead eyes watching him.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Four**

Eventually it was Harry who had spotted the way out.

He had accidentally slipped down a rather steep pile of rubble when he fell off the side of the narrow bridge. Luckily the approaching dawn meant it wasn't as dark as it had been even half an hour before, allowing him enough light to grab hold of one of the withered plants that were growing through the cracks. Even so, it was a tense minute with Harry half dangling over the ravine before Ginny scrambled close enough to _wingardium leviosa_ him to safety.

"Well, that's _one_ way of finding a bridge, Potter," she'd quipped, but their laughs had been cut off quickly. Wherever they were, it was not a place to laugh.

Making their way carefully across the narrow bridge, both paused for a moment before turning and looking back. Harry heard Ginny suck in a breath and he couldn't blame her. The fortress was a mass of towers shooting into the sky, their height emphasised even more by the steep ravine that circled the entire structure. Confirming their earlier suspicions, there was not a single turret that wasn't broken in some way. In fact, the whole citadel looked completely abandoned.

Part of Harry felt sad at that thought. It was easy to see that once it had been an impressive sight, maybe even a beautiful one. Whoever had lived there before had clearly been skilled builders. But whatever beauty or majesty the place had once had all been driven away by the undercurrent of malevolence that now pervaded their senses. Even without knowing the charred remains of the massacre inside, the whole place exuded evil. The part of Harry that wasn't feeling sad was screaming at him to keep moving, get far away.

"Have you ever seen anything like it before?" Ginny asked quietly. She was staring at the ruin with an inscrutable expression in her eyes. Harry could tell by the tension in her shoulders however that she was just as eager to leave as he.

"No," Harry said, before adding fervently, "and I hope never to again."

She shot him a look at that but didn't respond. Instead, as though from an unspoken agreement, both turned their backs on the fortress and walked away.

Surrounding the fortress on all sides was a forest. Forests were not new territory to Harry after the last year, but he couldn't feel comfortable in this one. The malicious aura from the fortress was far reaching and seemed to saturate the very air around them. It didn't help that the rising sun didn't seem to penetrate the thick canopy of leaves above them. Their walk was instead encased in an odd twilight, the air thick and heavy. Prickles down Harry's back made him feel as though someone – or some _thing_ – was watching them. Occasionally they heard the far off screeches of different animals and once something that sounded like a roar from a worryingly large animal. Every sound caused them to jump before speeding up slightly. Neither of them spoke to each other; all of their energies were focussed on just getting out. Would the stupid forest never end?

When, after several hours, they did break out into unexpected and glorious sunshine it came as a massive shock. Harry even heard Ginny gasp out loud as he frantically blinked tears away from his streaming eyes. After hours of the murky forest, the bright light of the day was painful. What wasn't painful was the fresh air suddenly surrounding them. Harry took in a deep gulp of it, not fully realising how cloying the air among the trees had been until now.

Once his eyes had cleared Harry squinted at the landscape in front of them. To say it wasn't encouraging was an understatement. There were no signs of cities, towns, buildings or even just a simple road. It was just endless grassy plains that couldn't even be called fields. Fields to Harry meant someone tended to them and that they had borders. There were no borders here, just endless waving long grass. He shot a dismayed look at Ginny.

She just sighed and shrugged before carrying on walking. Harry sighed and followed.

Despite the fact that it was now at least mid-morning, which meant they had been awake for more than 24 hours, neither Harry nor Ginny suggested that they rest for a while. Although neither of them had spoken a word, and despite the fact that they had now left the forest, both of them could feel still feel that unrelenting pressure to keep moving, to get far away… Harry felt unclean with it, as though the dark atmosphere was something that coated his skin. There was also that sense that something in the forest had been watching them, and watching with unfriendly eyes. The bigger the distance they put between them and the forest and fortress the better.

Because of this the sun was high in the sky before Ginny finally called out an end to their increasingly weary rambles.

"Bloody hell," she gasped, in a fair approximation of her brother. "I thought we'd never be rid of that evil place." She flopped to the ground, apparently uncaring of the various states of decaying foliage around her.

Harry didn't comment, just collapsed next to her, equally exhausted. His thoughts had long since boiled down to just keeping one foot moving after the other. Anything further than that had taken more effort than he had been willing to spare. They had been walking for _hours_.

For a while it was all either of them could do to just lie there in the sun. Although they could still see the forest behind them it was now just a dark smudge on the horizon. For now they were still surrounded by the same open plains, marred only by the occasional rock bursting through the surface. It was in the shade of one of these that Ginny had stopped.

"Should we try apparating now?" he asked Ginny eventually. Now he had gathered his wits about him, he wondered why he hadn't tried it immediately. Part of him knew the answer; the darkness of that place was too close to the forefront of his mind to allow him the necessary focus. That first pile of bodies had been the largest they saw, but by no means the last. All through their eerie, silent journey through the ruined fortress they kept coming across odd, charred corpses. Some of them still seemed to be smouldering slightly, belying Harry's earlier assertion that the disaster happened a long time ago. Aside from some uneasy glances however neither he nor Ginny spoke of it. Instead they just obeyed that unheard pressure to keep moving and get as far away as possible.

Truth be told, it had taken longer to shake both the pressure and the darkness clouding his mind than he would have thought was possible. It was only once they were out of the forest that he felt the nausea he wasn't aware he was feeling lift completely and it had taken even longer for the feeling of wrongness at his back to dissipate.

"Not until you've had some rest," Ginny negated firmly. "I don't know how we didn't get splinched the first time but if you feel anything close to how I feel right now then we'd pushing our luck asking for another miracle."

Harry felt he should protest out of principle, but the truth was he hadn't been this exhausted in a long time. Not since the Battle, he supposed, fighting off echoes of that particular night. He still groaned, but for a completely different reason. "Ugh, where as we going to find beds for the night – or day, even?" he reminded himself, squinting at the merrily burning sun above them. "Oof!"

Ginny smirked at him from where she had just given him a friendly swat. "Moron," she told him. "Are you a wizard or not? A few cushioning charms will be absolutely fine." She shrugged complacently. "We only need a few hours."

Harry considered her for a moment and then laughed. "All those months of _roughing it_ and I still always slept in a nice, warm, comfy bed," he mused good humouredly. "I suppose this is proper 'roughing it' then."

Ginny snorted. "Only by magical standards. If we were two muggles this would have been a whole lot more uncomfortable."

"If we were two muggles we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place," Harry countered with a smile before heaving himself back up to his aching feet. He probably had blisters everywhere. Ginny watched him from where she had curled up on the ground.

"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily as he pulled out his wand and began flicking it around them. He looked back over his shoulder at her.

"Muggle repelling, notice-me-not… all the standard enchantments we had on our camps," he told her. She frowned.

"Won't that stop the others from finding us?" she asked. "Surely they'd be looking by now."

Harry paused momentarily but carried on. "They will, but I'd rather not take my chances with _that_ behind us."

Ginny murmured an assent and he continued with his wards. By the time he finished and turned back she was fast asleep. He smiled slightly and shot a few silent cushioning spells at the ground underneath her before following suit. It had been a ridiculously long day.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Ginny was starving.

When she first collapsed on the ground she had been convinced that could easily sleep for a whole week without waking. Yet it felt as though it had been barely twenty minutes before she was wide awake again. She could tell by the position of the sun that it had been longer than that – a good few hours – but it still wasn't enough.

And _what,_ exactly, had woken her?

The growling of her stomach.

Unfortunately all Ginny had on her were some rather flattened looking Bertie Botts Beans and an equally battered Chocolate Frog. She resisted the urge to chomp down on the Chocolate Frog immediately, especially as she knew that Harry might not have any food on him. Merlin, the faster they got away from here and back to London, the quicker she could indulge herself in Mum's home cooking.

Of course, Mum would probably bewitch said food to ensure that Ginny never left her sight again but right now that was a price Ginny was willing to pay for a helping of a good old Sunday roast…

' _Note to self; thinking about food when you are starving is_ not _the most sensible idea in the world._ '

Sneaking a glance to make sure that Harry was definitely still asleep Ginny sighed and reached for a small rock. Biting her bottom lip in concentration she swished her wand carefully to shape the stone into a goblet. All she got for her efforts was a slightly rounder rock. Ginny frowned and tried again. Transfiguration may not be her _best_ subject but she could still manage a better goblet than _that_.

After several tries Ginny had to satisfy herself with what amounted to a small, shallow bowl and immediately set about cleaning it as best she could, before filling it with water. The first sip of cool water was delicious, if slightly soapy tasting, and she had swallowed it all before even thinking about it. It was only then that she realised how thirsty she had been and quickly set about filling it up again.

"Don't drink too much at once or it will make you sick," Harry said suddenly, his head popping up into view. He startled Ginny so much that her hand flickered and squirted him in the face with the jet of water. "Ginny!" he protested, blinking his eyes blearily even as Ginny launched into peals of laughter.

He scowled at her before drying his face with a flick of his wand. "I'll get you back for that someday," he warned her ominously before transfiguring his own stone into a bowl. Ginny was somewhat satisfied when it proved to be just as difficult for him as for her. Catching her look, Harry simply grinned. "Out of practice."

Ginny grinned in return, using a quick charm to chop the Chocolate Frog in two. "You got any food on you?" she asked hopefully as Harry took his fill.

Harry shook his head morosely. "Only if you count skiving snackboxes."

Ginny made a face. "Well, this will have to do until we get home," she said, offering him half of the Chocolate Frog. He took it with a slight bow, making her laugh.

"Who was the card?" he asked before taking a careful bite of the melting chocolate.

Ginny swallowed her own piece whilst searching in the wrapping. "Dumbledore."

Harry didn't say anything, just looked at the card wistfully. Ginny handed it over without a word. It had always been obvious to everyone that Harry and Dumbledore had been more than just student and teacher. Part of the reason why he hated that cave so much was because he saw it as a precursor to Dumbledore's death.

Not that anyone could blame Harry for hating the cave simply for its own sake. Ginny shivered even though the day was quite warm. There had been something so relentlessly… _menacing_ about that cave. She hadn't said anything because she was quite sure it was just her own fears and feelings about the Chamber of Secrets being projected into their surroundings. But then there had been that castle… Ginny knew why she hadn't immediately recognised they weren't in the caves and that was because they had felt _exactly_ the same way. That same relentless evil, the menacing intent in every inch of space. She wouldn't go quite so far as to say there was a _presence_ there, because there hadn't been. Evil had simply seeped into the heart of everything about that place, just like in the cave.

Just like in the Chamber.

"Are you ready for a bit more apparating?" Harry asked from besides her.

She smiled at him. "Hell, yes – let's get out of this place."

Pulling each other to their feet, Harry grabbed hold of her arms and closed his eyes, concentrating. He took half a step forward and –

\- nothing.

He opened one eye carefully and then stared about in consternation. "What happened?" Ginny asked but he just shook his head and said he'd try again.

Still nothing.

"Where are you aiming for?" Ginny asked, wishing she could help but her apparation lessons had been cut short early after several run-ins with Snape last year.

"Grimmauld place, but nothing's happening," Harry said frowning.

"Maybe try the Burrow?" Ginny suggested, worried. "Grimmauld Place was where you tried last night, wasn't it?"

He looked worried too now. "Ok, I'll try the Burrow," he agreed but it quickly became apparent that the Burrow, nor Hogsmeade, the Leaky Cauldron or even Number 4 Privet Drive was going to work. "This is ridiculous, I should be able to apparate _somewhere_ ," Harry snapped, breaking apart from Ginny in frustration.

"Maybe you're still too tired?" Ginny ventured timidly. "Or maybe that spell did something?"

That drew him up short and he swore vehemently. "Of course it did, of _course it bloody did_ ," Harry growled, fists clenching. "Bloody Voldemort and his _stupid_ fail safes. If I hadn't already killed him I'd kill him!"

Ginny shrugged, trying to make light of the situation. The truth is that neither of them fully knew what had happened when they disapparated or what the long term effects might be. There was no use in speculating – what they had to do was get back to the Ministry and the Unspeakables who probably _could_ figure it all out. When she pointed this out to him his anger deflated slightly, but he was still pissed off – she could see it all in his eyes.

"All we need to do is find a road and call the Knight Bus," she said, laying her wand flat out on her hand. " _Point me road_."

The wand span rapidly in her hands but didn't stop. Ginny looked up to see Harry staring at her with alarm. "What does _that_ mean?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. But whatever it is, I don't think it's good." He got out his own wand and focussed on it. " _Point me Hogwarts._ " The wand just span continuously. He swallowed, looked at Ginny and tried again. " _Point me London_."

" _Point me England_ ," she incanted but it just had the same effect as Harry's last. Nothing. She looked up and saw her own panic reflected in his face.

"Where in the world _are we_?"

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Thanks for reading everyone!

I realised that I hadn't actually described where they were so had to add a bit more in which is why this chapter's a bit late this week. Most of you already have and those that haven't I'm sure you can guess where they landed now

Love,

Hannanora xxx


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Five**

Harry didn't know what to say. Neither did Ginny. They just kept staring at each other, shock slowly turning to dread.

Eventually Ginny licked her lips. "It doesn't… I mean, maybe we're just out of range?" she said eventually, slightly desperate.

"Maybe," he said slowly. They'd have to be pretty far away for the 'Point Me' spell to not locate – somewhere like Australia – but that would certainly explain why he couldn't apparate them. Apparation worked across the UK just fine but if he was trying to jump much further than mid-France he wouldn't have been able to do it.

 _But what about the roads?_

He realised he must have said that out loud when Ginny's face fell. "Look," Harry said, "we don't know _what_ that spell did to us, you said it before. Maybe it really _has_ messed with our magic?"

She shook her head. "But we used our magic last night and earlier today with no problems," she pointed out, frowning. "Why would it be going wrong _now_?"

"All the magic we're using at the moment is travel related," he said, thinking it through Hermione style. "Maybe it just interfered with our travel spells? Or at least things that require direction."

Ginny thought for a moment before dismissing it with another shake of her head. "It's too specific. Whatever's happened to us it is not a spell, designed to do something precise and predetermined. It's a wild merge of highly potent magicks. If it was going to be messing up our magic it should be messing up _all_ aspects of it, not just one."

Harry blinked at the Hermione-like logic. Since when could Ginny channel their absent friend? "Right," he said, thrown for a second. "So, our magic _does_ still work and the most likely reason we can't apparate somewhere or locate it on a _point me_ charm is because we are out of range." He paused, not voicing the thought that they would have to be on the _other side of the planet_ for 'Point me England' to not locate. "So the odd one out we have to consider is why 'roads' didn't work."

They paused at that, Harry belatedly reflecting that Hermione would be impressed by their logical approach to their problems. He suddenly missed her cool logic with a sharp pang. "Maybe," Ginny ventured timidly, breaking through Harry's thought, "maybe it's not specific enough?"

Harry felt buoyed by this. "Right, let's try something generic," he said, lifting his wand up again. " _Point me north_."

The wand immediately spun in his hand until it was pointing, quivering, somewhere to the right and behind them.

Their eyes meet in relief. "Ok, that problem's solved," Ginny said, relief making her voice shake slightly. "Although we are _not_ heading anywhere back near that place."

"Agreed," Harry said.

They paused for a moment before Ginny said, "So… what now?"

Harry frowned. "Well… I guess we have to just keep trying different, uh, 'directions' until one of them sticks." He didn't point out thatall ofthis could take a _reeeaally_ long time.

"Right then," Ginny said, holding out her wand once more. "Let's try… _point me city_."

The wand whirled on her hand and, much to both of their amazement, stopped almost immediately. "Well, that was – "

But Ginny stopped with a dismayed cry as the wand then started spinning again only to stop once more. Three more times the wand twisted and stopped before it started repeating itself. "What does that mean?" Ginny said, confused. "That those five cities are the closest? The biggest? Or the only ones?"

"I think they've got to be the closest ones," Harry said after a moment of deliberation. "Surely there can't be only _five_ cities around?"

"Right; what possible directions did we have again?" Ginny asked. Before Harry had a time to answer she had already redone the spell. This time both she and Harry carefully noted the directions; directly in front of them, to their left, directly behind them, to their right and behind them and to their right.

They exchanged looks. "One of those directions is right back at the fortress," Harry said quietly, glancing behind them. He turned back to Ginny with a frown. "I wouldn't necessarily class that as a city, but maybe the spell does."

"So the spell could be showing us cities that are… well, deserted or destroyed?" Ginny asked, bemused. "What would the point of that be? And surely not all five of them will be like that?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I wouldn't have thought it at all, but that place…"

They stood in silence for a moment. "Maybe we shouldn't be looking for a city," Ginny said finally. "Maybe we should be looking for the wizarding world. Or at least a witch or wizard."

Harry thought about that for a moment before nodding. "It can't hurt to try, although it might not be specific enough. Let's see… erm, _point me wizard_ ," Harry said quickly.

The wand span in his hand and stopped, pointing to three different places; behind them and to their right, directly behind them and in front of them to their right. "Three possible wizards," Ginny surmised, looking both surprised that the spell had worked and also that there were only three possibilities. She shifted uneasily. "One of them is back at the fortress again. They could very easily be the dark wizard that… I can't see a white wizard leaving all of those bodies to just…" She broke off with a shudder and Harry grabbed her hand in comfort.

"Well, maybe let's modify the 'directions' a bit," Harry said frowning. " _Point me,_ er _, white wizard._ "

Ginny laughed. "I don't think that's going to – " she started but broke off with a gasp.

The wand had found its mark.

"Well… it's away from the fortress," she said eventually, squinting along the line of the wand, almost as if she could see its target. The wand had pointed forward and to the right of them. By Harry's reckoning that was south-east.

"It – or he, I guess – doesn't seem to be near any cities though," Harry pointed out.

"Well, surely that's in keeping with most witches and wizards anyway?" Ginny argued. "Most of us live away from muggles where possible. And that doesn't mean to say he's not living in complete isolation; just not a city."

Harry just stared at his still quivering wand. He guessed Ginny's reasoning made sense, but then again _nothing_ about this whole thing truly made sense. They'd tried to ignore the fact that they were both hit by a Killing Curse and should be dead, but that was the _truth_. They _should_ be dead.

Instead they found themselves transported into a ruined fortress of evil, home of an ancient – or possibly _not_ so ancient – massacre, ostensibly on the other side of the _planet_ and in the middle of absolutely sodding nowhere.

So no, nothing made sense. But in the face of an alternative, Harry decided they might as well pick a direction and start walking. And if their direction happened to take them near a supposedly 'light' wizard then well… it's not as though their luck could get any worse.

"Lead the way."

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

The next few days had been some of the hardest that Harry had ever known in his life.

At first their walk had been relatively light hearted and both of them were in good spirits at having decided upon an action to take. Even so, they hadn't managed to walk that far the first day. Neither of them were used to walking very far and adding in their lack of sleep and food it was all Harry and Ginny could do to stumble onwards until the sun went down.

Needless to say, the next day was worst.

The Beans were long gone, Harry even bravely managing to swallow a bean he strongly suspected was pus flavoured. But when they woke up the next day there was nothing to satisfy their stomach cramping hunger. Both he and Ginny filled up with as much water as they dared but it did little to ease the pangs. Not to mention that the sheer amount of liquid they were consuming presented its own problem. Luckily Harry was still in the habit of carrying his invisibility cloak and Ginny was surprisingly good at conjuring tissues.

By the end of the second day, the pair had slowed immensely. Harry rather thought he was coping slightly better than Ginny, both his time with the Dursleys and his year camping with Hermione and Ron well preparing him for the lack of proper nourishment. Ginny, however, had never missed a meal in her life. For the first time she was experiencing true hunger and she was clearly struggling. They'd even stopped and tried to apparate to London once more but still nothing happened and they were getting desperate.

In fact, Harry rather strongly suspected that both of them would have died if they'd not spotted the river.

When the light rose on the third day it took all of Harry's effort to pull himself up. He'd gotten fairly used to ignoring the pain in his stomach but he couldn't ignore the way his head spun alarmingly and it took several minutes before his arms stopped shaking. He took deep breaths until it settled down and nudged Ginny gently. She moaned slightly and Harry froze.

The both of them had been plagued with nightmares after that first sleep. Harry's night time reveries had always had a rich tapestry of memories to draw from and their recent adventures only provided more fodder. He spent his nights lurching from memories of the cave and the fortress both. The bodies of the three Unspeakables crawled after him in his dreams, jaws turning to dark ash and crumbling even as they moaned at him, their words lost, and green lights flashed all around.

Worst were the dreams full of darkness and fire, half-heard menacing whispers threading through the depths… Harry feared those dreams above all the others, though he didn't know why.

Ginny groaned again and Harry reached out to grab one of her hands. "Hey, Gin," he said softly. "It's ok, wake up."

He repeated this quietly until Ginny stirred and opened her eyes, blinking in the bright light. She blushed slightly as she realised her hand was still ensconced in Harry's. Giving it a squeeze she pulled it free and pushed herself upwards. He watched her carefully. "The Chamber?"

She scowled into the distance. "Yes. Again." She sighed, running a hair through her lank and tangled hair. "I thought I'd been free of them. I haven't had one for years." Her scowl deepened. "Sodding cave."

None of this was new territory for them but Harry couldn't help the surge of guilt. He had, after all, asked Ginny to accompany him. This whole situation was indirectly his fault. He'd be lucky when they got back if Mrs Weasley ever left him alone with Ginny again. He swallowed, restraining the urge to apologise yet again. Ginny had threatened to hit him with a bat bogey hex if he started. Instead he shakily got to his feet and pulled her up. "Shall I check on the wizard?"

Ginny nodded nonchalantly, still scowling forwards and lost in thoughts. Harry picked up his wand and laid it on his palm. " _Point me white –_ "

"What's that?" Ginny cut him off suddenly, clutching his arm. She was still staring in front of them, but the scowl had disappeared to be replaced with a look of… was it hope?

Harry followed her gaze to squint into the distance. Something was glinting there. Something that looked like… "Is that _water_?"

"More than that…" Ginny said, sucking in a breath. "I think it's actually a _river_!"

They exchanged delighted looks. "Fish!"

Harry grabbed hold of Ginny and with a squeeze of pressure and a loud crack they were in sight of it; a great wide river, cutting a merry path through the landscape. They were still a way from the river, but it would be a mere matter of a few minutes' walk, even at their excruciatingly slow space. That wasn't soon enough for Ginny, however, who broke into a fair approximation of a run, laughing, stumbling to a halt by the sandy banks.

" _Accio fish_! _Accio_!"

By the time he'd caught up to her she was already surrounded by three silvery fish, one more zooming into view as he collapsed next to her. "Poached salmon, milord?" Ginny asked, with a grin.

"Pretty sure that's not salmon," Harry informed her, laughing.

"Well, if that's how you feel, Potter," Ginny started to say but the effect was rather ruined when the fish she was holding suddenly jerked and hit her in the face before flopping back into the river. At Ginny's wet and astonished expression Harry burst into laughter and it took quite a while before either of them settled down enough to set about cooking the fish.

They stayed by the river for a couple of days, both to recuperate their strength and also to stock up on their travels. Neither Harry nor Ginny had ever been somewhere so seemingly bereft of both roads and civilisation before and who knew how long it would be until they reached either their wizard or a town. Harry didn't remember much about Australia or New Zealand but he vaguely recalled large parts of them being uninhabited, further adding to his and Ginny's belief that this was where they had ended up.

As well as stocking up on fish from the river and pilfering some edible looking plants, Harry was taking the time to cautiously help Ginny with her apparation. Luckily she had already gone through most of the lessons before she was banned else Harry would never be able to help her, too fearful of a splinching. As it was, every time she successfully disappeared he was terrified something had gone wrong until he'd successfully checked her over.

Eventually, however, they could delay their journey no longer. Both of them had managed to figure out some rudimentary stasis charms on the fish although Harry didn't think he'd ever manage to get the fish smell out of his mokeskin pouch or cloak once they'd stuffed it all inside. They'd been checking on the white wizard every several hours and he hadn't moved.

"Ready, Harry?"

Harry smiled at Ginny. Whilst they both still looked the worst for wear both of them felt better – and cleaner – than they had for several days.

"Ready, Ginny."

And they headed off.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Taking rather large liberties with the 'point me' spell, I know, but I always do! Anyone want to guess what the five 'cities' they found were? I hope you enjoyed it and fear not – they will FINALLY be meeting some actual characters from Middle Earth very soon.

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Six**

"Merlin, this wood is creepy."

Next to her Harry let out a snort. "You should spend more time in the Forbidden Forest," he informed her with a mock shudder. "We'd have been eaten and digested by now in there."

Ginny just ignored him. "I'd much rather something _had_ attacked us," she said, looking around them uneasily. "At least it would be out of the way. This forest… it's just _waiting_."

Harry laughed at that, but it was a rather tense laugh which quickly stopped. Ginny was half tempted to punch him in the shoulder but the thick atmosphere of the trees around them caused her only to shuffle closer.

It had been two days since they had entered the forest and it had been two days of extreme unease. When they had checked on their wizard two and half days ago both she and Harry had been puzzled to find he had moved. For the past 6 and a half days the man had remained steadily in front of them and then suddenly, within the space of just a few hours, he had jumped towards their right.

Harry had pointed out that this probably meant they were closer to him but now, after two and a half more days of walking, and no end in sight of this ridiculous forest, their spirits were much lower. Neither of them voiced the idea that he had apparated which meant in reality he could suddenly be a hell of lot _further_ away than before.

Around them the trees creaked ominously and Ginny eyed them uneasily, trying to banish the feeling that _something_ in the forest was watching them. It made her itchy all over. She wasn't sure what it was exactly about _this_ forest that perturbed her but she had been on edge ever since they entered it. It was somewhat ironic, really, considering how relieved they had been when they saw the forest in the first place.

After nearly four days of nothing but fish a forest was a palatable promise of new and more interesting foods. Whilst neither Harry nor Ginny felt they were quite capable of tracking down and killing any animals, there was at least the promise of new vegetation. Hell, Ginny felt quite sure she would snog even Draco Malfoy senseless if it got her just half an apple. Both of them were craving fresh vegetables and fruit and almost ran into the forest, eyes already scouring branches and bushes for traces of fruit.

Their excitement hadn't lasted long.

True, they _had_ managed to find some apples, a variety of nuts and berries and even some strangely purple carrot like potatoes but Ginny thought if given the choice she would rather keep on eating the fish than keep walking through the forest.

It was exactly as Harry had said, though; they _hadn't_ been attacked. But then, _nothing_ seemed to live in the dark world they now inhabited. They'd expected to hear a whole host of birds and catch sight of a myriad of different animals jumping out of their way, but there was _nothing._ Nothing apart from the trees, of course.

Ginny looked uneasily up at one as she climbed over a particularly large root. Despite Harry and Ron's familiarity with the Forbidden Forest, she _had_ been in there more than most students and, barring the odd acromantula attack or conversations with haughty centaurs, it felt like any other forest she'd been in before. The trees were big, certainly, and definitely ancient… but the trees in the Forbidden Forest didn't seem to watch her as she stumbled clumsily around the forest floor. They didn't seem to frown at them as they scaled over lower branches to get past the odd stream or ditch.

They didn't seem angry.

Not like _this_ forest.

When they woke up that morning there had been the heavy, cloying stink of smoke. After reassuring themselves that no, the forest was _not_ on fire, Harry pointed out that the fire had to have been started by someone. That meant they were possibly nearing a town – or at the very least people.

Ginny tried to agree with this but, unbidden, images of burnt out bodies at the fortress rose before her mind and she felt a spasm of fear.

It was several hours later now and the smell of smoke still persisted. Both she and Harry had gotten used to it, but it set them both on edge. The edginess didn't help either of their moods and they had been sniping at each other on and off all day. The trees around them also seemed unhappier – angrier than they usually were – but Ginny kept that to herself. She didn't want Harry thinking her mad.

"I know I said that about the Forbidden Forest earlier, but I was just joking," Harry said suddenly, almost as though he were reading her thoughts. He shuddered for real this time. "There is something all too… _knowing_ about this place."

"Maybe it _is_ a magical forest… but one with a particular type of intelligent plant life?" Ginny posed.

Harry grunted as he scrambled up a large rock. "It's possible," he agreed, frowning at the way ahead. "Just think of the Venomous Tentacula or Mandrakes."

"Whomping Willow, too," Ginny agreed with a puff as she scrambled after Harry. "Merlin, I hope there aren't of _them_ in here."

"Well, at least, unlike an animal, they can't chase us if we run away – " Harry pointed out with a faint smile.

"If we _can_ run away."

" – and we've got a fair amount of spells at our disposal," he finished, ignoring her grumbles. "We'll be fine."

"I'd feel better about all of that if when running away from one psychotic tree we weren't running towards a whole forest of other ones."

"Good point. Well, we can always apparate back to the river."

" _If_ we can – I'm still not entirely convinced these trees don't have an evil way of stopping us doing that. Or causing us to splinch." Ginny shuddered as she fingered her wand carefully. Despite her successes on the river bank she hadn't been able to replicate them in the forest. Something about the thick, heady atmosphere of fear putting her off… or at least that is what Harry thought it was.

She noticed he hadn't tried apparating either though.

Harry sighed, a strange look on his face. "You are right about this forest," he admitted suddenly, cursing as he got his foot caught in a particularly gnarled root. Giving his foot a quick massage he looked up at her from the ground. "I've been in more forests than I care to count after the last year and none of them, not even the forest with the fortress, has felt this… _aware_ before." Straightening up he gave her a rueful smile. "It's almost making me miss being attacked by acromantula."

That startled a quick laugh out of her as they started walking again. "Merlin, don't ever say that to Ron or he'd probably pass out." She paused, and felt a wicked grin spread over her face. "On second thoughts, tell him and make sure I'm there to bear witness."

They both laughed a little at that. "I'm sure I can arrange that," he agreed good humouredly. "Although you first might have to dig me up from the grave I'm sure your mother would have buried me in for putting you in danger," he said, somewhat morosely.

Ginny snorted at that. "Dig _you_ up?" she repeated, incredulous. "Please, Mum _loves_ you – I'm the one you'll have to rescue, although hopefully not from a grave. I'd like to think Mum would at least give me the dignity of imprisoning me in my room."

Harry paused at that. "Maybe just floo call her from Grimmauld Place for the first few weeks?" he offered.

"Make that the first few – "

Harry's arm shot out and grabbed her arm quickly. She stopped dead and then looked at him quizzically. His arm was up, his wand at the ready and his eyes were flickering at the small clearing in front of them.

' _There's something up ahead_.' The thought came unbidden and even before she'd fully processed the thought her wand was up to match Harry's. "What is it?" she whispered, eyes straining in the gloom of the forest.

His eyes flicked only briefly to hers before they were squinting at the trees in front of them. "I'm… I'm not sure," he whispered back, taking a half step closer to her side. "I just – I _feel_ like there's something there."

Ginny gave him a concentrated look but nodded. If Harry thought there was something up ahead then there probably was. "What shall we do?"

"Apparate around to the other side," Harry whispered back, eyes not moving from the deceptively calm trees in front of them. "On the count of three?"

Ginny nodded, even though she was nervous about attempting apparation in the forest. But if Harry was right then there was no reason why it shouldn't be possible. And if it didn't work… well, then their potential ambushers would be none the wiser.

"One, two – "

Ginny found herself staring down an arrow.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Aragorn stared at the figure in front of him as though his eyes were deceiving him. "It cannot be," he half whispered, reminding both his senses and the impossible figure before him. "You fell!"

"Through fire and water," the blazing white figure agreed, smiling at him, and his face bore the semblance of the one he knew but it _could not be_! They had all been there, all seen him fall into the shadowy depths of Moria. This spectre in front of them must surely be a loathsome trick of Sarumans… yet his heart… "From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought with the Balrog of Morgoth, until at last I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside."

It was a good tale. Aragorn ignored the part of him that was singing the truth of the wizard's tale. The magicks of the Istari were many and varied and they were far too close to Isengard to take chances.

"Darkness took me," the wizard continued, still smiling as though he could hear Aragorn's internal struggle. "I strayed out of thought and time. But it was not the end," the figure paused, the faintest tinge of weariness and regret colouring his voice. He looked keenly up at them all then and solemnly declared, "I've been sent back until my task is done."

"Gandalf?" Aragorn cried out, seemingly unable to help himself. To his surprise, the wizard looked taken aback at that.

"Gandalf?" he repeated, looking as though the word was a new experience. "Yes… that's what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey."

"Gandalf!" Gimli repeated now, deep voice rumbling with pressure.

The Istar broke into a full smile there. "I am Gandalf the White," he proclaimed and Aragorn finally smiled. It truly _was_ him. He opened his mouth to welcome him when Legolas suddenly hissed, "Quiet!"

Aragorn turned to look at him, immediately tensing. "What do you sense, _mellonin_?" he asked quietly, eyes flicking around the dense foliage around them. He could see nor hear nothing but the elf's senses were far superior to those of men or dwarf.

"Something comes this way," Legolas said quietly, eyes focussed on a path to their right.

"Orcs?" Gimli growled, gripping his axe.

Legolas frowned. "Not orcs, but the trees are whispering." His eyes widened momentarily and he looked at them. "They whisper _Istari_."

Aragorn stared at him in shock. "Saruman?" he demanded, gripping his sword anew. They were close to Isengard, after all, but what sense would there be in confronting them in the woods when the White Wizard – the _old_ White Wizard, Aragorn corrected himself – had a tower fortress and an army to fight his battles for him?

Gandalf was frowning too. "They come from the north, from the forests of Mirkwood," he said gravely, gripping his staff. Legolas understandably perked up the mention of his home forest but made no comment. His bow was already strung and he was peering into the surrounding gloom. "It will not be Saruman but that does not mean we can call them friend. Take cover!"

With that he whirled to one side, his still-grey cloak effectively hiding the brilliance of his new robes in the murk. Legolas, with typical elven grace, clambered up into one of the great trees around them to watch from above. That left Gimli and Aragorn to hide as best they could behind opposite trees in the clearing.

Waiting in the oppressive atmosphere of Fangorn Forest for an unknown foe was an uncomfortable experience but Aragorn was well experienced in both battles and forests. Gimli was faring worse, but it seemed as though the prospect of a tangible foe to face in battle had helped to combat any lingering uneasiness about their surroundings.

Half hidden in the foliage Aragorn saw Legolas shift slightly. His superior hearing had picked up on something – maybe a conversation – but it was almost a full minute before Aragorn himself picked up on anything.

" – always apparate back to the river."

Aragorn blinked, both at the voice and the words. Whilst he was no longer expecting to hear Saruman's deep, cultured tones he was still expecting a voice he could recognise – an old voice, containing that hint of power all Istari possessed. The voice he heard, however, was young. _Very_ young. The word apparate was also one that he was not familiar with. He frowned, shooting a glance at the shadow that obscured Gandalf. Maybe it was a wizardly term.

" _If_ we can," another voice scoffed in the darkness and Aragorn barely refrained from calling out in surprise at that one. It was just as young as the first one, but, more astonishing, it belonged to a _female._ What mystery was this? He strained his ears and caught the end of the female's comment. "…convinced these trees don't have an evil way of stopping us doing that. Or causing us to splinch."

"You are right about this forest," the male said suddenly before muttering something too quiet for Aragorn to hear. The two were getting closer, but still not close enough to hear them with ease. Aragorn kept half an eye on Legolas. He would let them know when the pair were close enough. "I've been in more forests than I care to count after the last year and none of them, not even the forest with the fortress, has felt this… _aware_ before. It's almost making me miss being attacked by acromantula."

The female laughed again although Aragorn felt nothing but more confusion. To one side Gimli scowled at him, muttering under his breath about sorcery and strangers in forests. Aragorn couldn't blame him.

"Merlin, don't ever say that to Ron or he'd probably pass out," the female said, laughter still in her voice. "On second thoughts, tell him and make sure I'm there to bear witness."

Again, laughter rang through Fangorn. That, more than anything else, unsettled Aragorn. Fangorn was an ancient place, one of mystery and power, but it was also a place of danger and menace. For two young ones to be walking through its depths, laughing and speaking merry… what manner of creature _were_ they?

"I'm sure I can arrange that," the male responded, amused. "Although you first might have to dig me up from the grave I'm sure your mother would have buried me in for putting you in danger."

Gimli physically started at that casual remark, even more so when the only response was laughter. Not only were their tones utterly at odds to their surroundings, their whole manner of speaking was foreign. They spoke neither as Men, nor as Elves or Dwarves. They spoke in the mysterious aloof ways of the Istari least of all.

Legolas shifted to look down at them, even as the female's response floated through the forest. He signalled carefully at Aragorn and Gimli, indicating that there were just the two of them and that they were about seven paces ahead of them.

Aragorn signalled back their proposed plan of ambush. After several weeks of travelling together they worked together almost as a unit, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Gimli nodded his assent to the plan but before Aragorn could signal Gandalf he realised something was wrong. The easy conversation from the pair had stopped.

They had been discovered.

He looked up at Legolas and nodded quickly – they had to make their attack now. Signalling to Gimli and the shadows concealing Gandalf, Aragorn gripped his sword tighter, sending a quick prayer to the Valar to guide his actions.

Then he charged.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Yay! The Fellowship have appeared! Thanks for your patience everyone and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Next chapter – they actually interact! Gasp!

Please note that some of the initial dialogue from the fellowship (mainly of Gandalf) was taken from the film and are not my own words.

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx

P.S. in case you were wondering what the directions were in chapter 5 from the point me spell, here are the directions (as you now know where they are, I am happy with revealing these!)

Directly in front of them (Edoras, South West)

To their left (Minas Tirith, South East)

Behind them (Woodland Realm, North East)

To their right (Lorien, North West West)

Behind them and to their right (Rivendell, North North East)


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Seven:**

Harry was staring down a sword.

And not just a sword; there was also a rather alarmingly large axe and Ginny was facingan actual bow and arrow.

That was almost as weird as the people holding the aforementioned weapons.

Harry gaped up at the owner of the sword, not sure whether he felt more confused or alarmed. The man was older, maybe mid-thirties, and wore his dark hair long – ridiculously so – and with a beard. Harry could almost hear the echo of Aunt Petunia sniping about hippies and unhygienic hair care. But then again there was plenty more wrong with this particular person's attire than just his hair.

Like the fact the clothes he was wearing meant he could have jumped straight out of a medieval history book.

The man, however, was nothing compared to his strangeness of his companions. Harry didn't know what was stranger; the person holding the bow and arrow or the one lifting the axe. The former had long white hair, pale skin that seemed to glow in the gloom of the forest and.. Harry faltered. _'Are those_ pointedears _?!'_ The latter was nothing like as tall or graceful as the blonde – he was, in fact, the complete opposite; short, chunky and his head was covered by an armoured helmet.

 _Actual. Armoured. Helmet._

He exchanged a bewildered glance with Ginny, all thoughts of apparation fled from his mind. Death Eaters and muggles were one thing… these three were something else entirely…

"Who are you? What purpose have you in Fangorn Forest?"

Harry almost jumped, looking back at the man holding the sword. He was staring at them intently, waiting for an answer. When Harry and Ginny just stared at them, slightly bewildered, the grip on the sword tightened noticeably.

"Erm, no purpose," he blurted out, inwardly wincing. "We're just… you know, um, out for a walk."

The shorter man actually seemed to growl at that. "No manner of creature takes a _walk_ in Fangorn," he rumbled, eyes staring at them suspiciously. "Not if they value their lives."

"Oh," was Harry's wonderful response to that. He tried to ignore the exasperated glance Ginny shot his way, even as she elaborated. "Well, actually, we're on our way to meet someone."

"In Fangorn?" The short man scoffed. "A likely tale."

The blond man, silent until then, spoke suddenly and it was not in English. ' _What the…_ ' There was an uncomfortably familiar feeling beginning to surge up inside. It took only a moment for Harry to realise it was panic. ' _What the BLOODY HELL is going on?_ '

"You are obviously of the race of Men," a new voice said, making both Harry and Ginny jump and squint into the gloom. "From where do you hail?"

Both Harry and Ginny stared in astonishment at the figure now moving into view. He was dressed less strangely than the other three – at least as far as the two of them were concerned – in a long grey robe. He was much older than the other three, long white hair and beard paying testament to that fact, even discounting his elaborate walking stick. Harry had a vague feeling that the other three were guards for this one man – he had an aura about him that Harry couldn't put his finger on; something that spoke of power.

"Oh, er, England," Harry said in response to the man's question, playing it safe.

Not safe enough, apparently, as all four of them looked confused. "England?" the old man said in surprise. "I am not familiar with this place. Is it in Rohan?"

Ginny looked at him and he recognised the look of panicked confusion in her eyes well, because it was exactly what he was feeling.

"Um, no," Ginny said slowly, eyes darting between all four of them. "It's part of Britain… er, Europe?"

More blank faces. The white haired man frowned whilst the dark haired man in front of repeated, "Yourrup?"

Even as Ginny nodded dully, Harry swallowed, the panic from before rising once more. He didn't quite know what was going on but he had a pretty good idea. From the way they spoke, the clothes they were wearing – not to mention the _weapons_ – and the fact that they couldn't find any roads… they must have somehow gone back in time.

He really, sodding _hated_ Voldemort.

Harry shifted slightly but stopped as the sword and axe followed his movement. If they really _had_ gone back in time then the last thing they should be doing was talking with anyone. He almost groaned out loud when he realised that, however weird he thought _they_ were dressed they must be thinking the same about them. Whilst both of them were wearing casual robes, their jeans and t-shirts were clearly on show.

They were going to have to obliviate them.

Stunning them first was probably the best idea.

"So, erm, you've never heard of England, huh?" Harry said, tone overly cheerfully even as his mind was racing. How was he going to make Ginny realise what he wanted them to do? "Well, I'm quite, ah, _stunned_ by that, actually. I thought everyone knew England." He was babbling now but Ginny had stiffened slightly at the word stunned. She'd caught his drift. The men had also stiffened slightly, but they also clearly had no idea what he was talking about. "And, um, Rohan you say?" He stumbled slightly over the strange name but he carried on nonetheless. "Well, I've never heard of that – or this, um, Fangorn Forest… good name, by the way, definitely works – but then I was always completely _obliv-_ ious in Geography at school. Probably because of Dudley, really, and Aunt Petunia, of course, but then what could I do because _NOW!_ "

Harry barked out a _stupefy_ and the red jet zapped out towards the dark-haired man. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ginny doing the same, already raising her wand for another spell before the impossible happened. The blonde haired man ducked with an inhuman speed, rolling to the side and bringing his bow and arrow up once more. Ginny's eyes widened and she quickly altered her arm movements to bring up a shield but Harry couldn't help her. For before the red beam of his own stunner connected with the man in front of him the old man pushed in front and used his staff to deflect the beam into the woods.

All six of them froze and stared at each other.

"How – how did you - ?"

Then Ginny screamed.

A dark shape had leapt onto her back, crashing her into the ground. Harry stared in shock before his mind caught up to what was happening. "Ginny!" he cried, wand raising, a stunner already half formed on his lips. Before he could release the spell though the figure on Ginny jerked back with a scream, an arrow lodged in his chest.

Harry started, looking across at the blonde haired man even as he pulled Ginny to her feet. He had just _shot_ it! With a bloody _arrow!_ But the man was already turning away; another arrow already strung and released just as quickly.

It was then that Harry realised the truth; they were under attack.

Their attackers – Harry could not call them _people_ – were snarling and growling like animals, but they were not _beasts_ as Harry had first imagined. Their faces bore the crudest approximation to human, but the features were misshapen and oddly placed, as though features such as eyes and mouths were just roughly slapped on.

What really caught his attention, however, were the dark swords, dripping with blood and their rage-filled eyes. These were not creatures to be reasoned with.

He glanced at Ginny quickly, checking she was ok, but she was already flourishing her wand, a snapped " _Stupefy!_ " taking an unsuspecting creature by surprise.

As a creature approached him with a snarl, it was Harry's own turn to fight back. Sending a simple tripping jinx at the approaching creature it collapsed to the ground where it quickly met the wicked looking axe of the shorter man. Harry tried not to think about how the blood was black and how it splattered on impact. He focussed instead on disarming a third creature who had dodged Ginny's stunner.

There was another roar and Harry twisted away, wand at the ready. Even as he continued to fight the monsters he was reeling.

Where the bloody _hell_ had they ended up?

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Legolas was not sure where exactly the Orcs had come from – missed members of the party the Rohirrim had slaughtered or another party sent out from Isengard – but it did not matter. A split second after the first Orc had fallen on the red-haired female it was dead, Legolas' arrow through its back.

Before it even fell on the ground another arrow was on the string and then flying towards a second orc. There were not many of them – maybe a dozen – but more than enough to do some serious damage. Another arrow was on his string now and he was tracking another target. His eyes narrowed but before he could release a bright red light slammed into the surprised orc and it collapsed on the ground.

He looked sideways to see the female holding out the strange wooden stick, glaring at the prone creature. Her hair was tangled and there was blood on her cheeks but other than that she seemed fine. Their eyes met briefly and she nodded at him, even as she whirled away to point her stick at another one of the creatures.

This one dodged the red light but even as the red beam shot past it the Orc jerked backwards, swords flying out of its grasp. It stared at it's flying weapons, too surprised to dodge the second beam of red light, this one coming from the strange male. Even as Legolas overcame his surprise and shot another of the orcs, a third one let out a strangled yell as his legs were pulled out from under him by an invisible force and it was pulled upwards, to dangle upside down, swearing and cursing until strange ropes appeared from nowhere to wrap it up.

Between the six of them it did not take long for the small party of orcs to be defeated. As the last fell to Gimli's axe there was an odd hush in the clearing as the six combatants stared at each other. Legolas was used to the quiet that immediately followed a battle, but this silence was different… more poignant. It could be attributed to the presence of the watching, ancient trees but he knew it was due to the strange _Istari_ in front of them. For what else could they be? He had seen the magicks they had employed in battle and had the trees not named them so?

Yet still… Nearly 3000 years on Middle Earth and never before had Legolas seen such strange, versatile enchantments as the two strangers had demonstrated. And then there was their youth – all the Istari were old men – and _men_. Not a _woman_.

They _did not fit_.

He turned to study them as they retreated slightly. The male almost immediately reached out a hand to catch that of the female, eyes softening, even as they asked her a quiet question. Legolas' own eyes were drawn once more to their strange manner of dress – odd, tight fitting clothes, with such bright colours he had never before seen on garments, along with white spongy looking boots that barely covered their ankles and strange dark robes. He still thought them young, barely out of childhood, but the magic skills they demonstrated belied that. They were a true enigma, full of contradictions.

"Are you alright, Legolas?"

The quiet question pulled him out of his contemplations and he turned to smile at Aragorn. "I am well, _mellon-nin_."

"Aye, we are all well and far better than we would have without our two young guests," Gimli grunted, coming up to them and staring across the clearing. Since the battle had ended, both parties had paused on either side of the small clearing. Across the space from them, the two of them were having their own check on the health of each other. Aragorn let out an audible gasp as with another wave of the wooden sticks the blood marring the girl's face disappeared… as did the cut it came from.

"What sort of creatures are these," he exclaimed in wonder, "where a simple wave of their hands causes a cut to disappear instantly? Even Elrond – "

"Yes, even Elrond has not this power," Gandalf agreed heavily, staring at the two. He looked none the worst for their fight, save that his cloak looked a little displaced.

"Are they Istari, Gandalf?" Gimli asked, leaning on his axe.

"No, Master Dwarf," Gandalf said, with a smile. "They are something new. And something, one can hope, that will help tip the balance for the dark."

"Do you think they _are_ here to help us, Gandalf?" Aragorn asked.

Gandalf simply smiled. "There is only one way to find the answer to that, my friend," he said, "and that is to ask!"

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

"You ok, Gin?" Harry asked quietly, eyes fixed on the splash of red on her cheek. His eyes flicked briefly over to the other men, but they were talking to each other. He ignored how intently the blonde archer stared at them.

"Merlin, that was horrible," Ginny said weakly, ignoring his question to stare at all the prone monsters around them. "I've never – why were they doing it?"

Harry shrugged, ignoring the ache in his shoulders from a pulled muscle. "I don't know," he admitted, feeling helpless. "I don't know _anything_ that's going on here. Nothing makes sense!"

Ginny made a face and then winced as it caused the cut on her temple of open up again. "Ugh," she said, twisting her wand and incanting " _tergeo_." The blood disappeared as did the cut that caused it and she immediately got back to the issue at hand. "I think we can assume that _whatever_ happened in that cave, it was nothing as simple as an overpowered apparation," she commented, voice shaking again.

"At the very least we must have gone back in time," Harry agreed, voicing the thought that had been niggling at him ever since he saw the stranger's dress.

"The _least_?!" Ginny looked as though she was going to faint.

"Well, have you seen anything like those _things_ before?"

Ginny looked down at one of the monsters they'd stunned. Black blood was eking from a wound on it's arm and it's unconscious face was twisted into a hateful snarl, displaying sharp teeth that appeared to be stained with old blood. The skin was mottled brown-green, leathery where it was stretched over an oddly angular face and what hair it had was black, ratty and long. "No," she admitted, sounding small. She looked up at him then, all wide eyed and exhausted. "So, what – you don't think this is just back in time?"

Harry swallowed. "I don't know," he admitted, worried.

Ginny looked as though she were either going to scream or cry. "Merlin, this is a complete _nightmare_."

"Are you well?"

Both Harry and Ginny jumped, wands half-raised before they realised who was asking. The dark haired man, who had apparently asked the question, simply held his arms up to show he was unarmed.

"Um, yes, we're fine," Harry said, caught off guard. For a second he had forgotten they were not alone anymore. "And, uh, you?" Inwardly he cursed his sudden inability to speak without stammering. The last thing he needed in front of these warriors was to come across as an uncertain child.

"We are well," the man confirmed, smiling slightly. "Not in least thanks to the two of you."

"You saved my life, too," Ginny pointed out, next to Harry. She nodded at the blonde archer, face not completely unsmiling. "We owe you thanks as well."

"It is a dark soul indeed that would let any fall to the mercies of an orc," the archer responded simply. It was the first time they'd heard him speak English and they both started at the lilting, melodic quality of his voice.

"Orcs?" Harry asked sharply. "Is that what these are?" He nodded a head towards the closest figure.

All four of them looked shocked at that. He exchanged a glance with Ginny. Apparently whatever these monsters were they were common. Great.

"Orcs, or Uruk-Hai," the white haired man confirmed, studying them with twinkling blue eyes. He was watching them just as carefully as the other three, but his stare held more in it. Harry tried not to fidget uncomfortably. That was a stare that made him feel uncomfortable. "These ones have been sent out from Isengard."

"Sent out for what?" Harry asked, warily. Whilst the warriors seemed to trust them more after the creatures' – _orc_ 's – attack, _he_ was not so ready to put his guard down.

"They had captured two of our party," the dark haired man said. "We three" – blondie and shorty, from his gestures – "were tracking them but they were all destroyed before we caught them." He broke off with a small smile. "Or, nearly all of them."

"What happened to your friends?" Ginny asked, whilst Harry was still stuck on _destroyed_. Destroyed by what? Or who?

All four of them smiled at that. "I met them in these woods," white hair said, "and sent them on to safety. These few orcs were most likely tracking either the halflings or ourselves."

' _Halflings_?' Harry thought, bewildered. ' _What on Earth are those?_ ' Ginny's face showed she was equally in the dark.

There was an awkward pause then when neither Harry nor Ginny could think of anything to say to that. Luckily white-hair leaped to their rescue, with another large smile.

"In the midst of these battles, we have quite forgotten our manners," he said, sweeping his walking stick in front of him. "My name is Gandalf. These are my companions; Aragorn, son of Arathorn," – dark hair bowed at them – "Gimli, son of Gloin" – this was shorty, who also bowed at them – "and Legolas Greenleaf." The blond archer inclined his head at them.

Harry blinked at the introductions. Aside from being odd names – who would name their child Gandalf? Or Gloin, for that matter? Those names made the name _Dudley_ look nice, for Merlin's sake – he didn't understand the manner of introductions. Why were they all introduced differently? Did Legolas not know his father? Is that why he was introduced with a surname? And Gandalf had neither surname nor father's name. What did _that_ mean?

In the end, Harry decided to stick what he knew. "I'm Harry Potter and this is Ginny Weasley."

"Delighted," Gandalf said, but even as he bowed Harry could the slightly bemused looks on the others face's and he bit back a grin. Apparently they found _their_ names just as odd as Harry found theirs.

There was a load groan from besides them. Ginny jumped and scowled down at the orc who was beginning to stir. "Damn, I thought that stunner would last longer."

"Well, they're not human," Harry said, gripping his wand warily. The orc was not fully conscious yet but it was only a matter of time. "They must recuperate quicker."

"The beast is not dead?" Gimli growled out in horror, axe raised.

Ginny shook her head. "Only stunned," she confirmed, "but I can easily knock him out again."

As she raised her wand to do so, however, there was a swish of air and an arrow embedded itself in the beast's throat. Harry stared at it, horrified, before whirling around to face Legolas. "What are you _doing_?" he shouted, only half aware that his wand was raised and pointing at the archer.

Legolas cocked his head at him. "It was still alive," he said, as though that explained everything.

Harry spluttered at that. "So?" he yelled, incredulous and angry.

Aragorn lifted his sword, looking urgent. "The orcs are too dangerous to let live," he said sharply, eyes flickering over the fallen bodies. "Which others of these still breathe?"

Harry stared at him, incredulous. "Why?" he asked, angrily. "So you can kill them too?"

All four of them were staring at him and Ginny in the same incredulity as he felt towards them. "I do not think you understand the nature of orcs," Aragorn said tightly.

"We understand that they are living, breathing things and that right now they're absolutely defenceless," Ginny said angrily. "You can't just go round killing defenceless things just because you don't _like_ them."

"Orcs will not show you such mercy," Gandalf said solemnly. He alone had not raised his weapon. Instead he seemed to lean on the pole, watching them carefully. "Indeed, mercy is something that no orc can comprehend. Do you believe that if you spare them now they would be grateful?"

"Well – "

"Orcs are bred from nothing but the deepest, darkest and blackest of arts," he continued. "Every base feeling that exists in the world – rage, anger, bloodlust – these are the only feelings that lay claim to their souls. An orc will not understand a plea for mercy and is incapable of showing it. They are driven only by their incessant rage and desire to lay waste to all that is pure, good and light."

He paused and stared right at Harry then, almost as though he was seeing into his soul. "There is no saving an orc. There is only the fastest, quickest way to kill it before it can destroy too many innocent lives."

Harry swallowed. Echoes of another, similar speech played over the top of Gandalf's.

" _It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses…_ "

The magical community had not destroyed dementors, but Harry wondered if that was simply because there was no spell to do so, rather than because it was morally wrong. It seemed to him that the dark wraiths driving purpose was to claim and gather as many people and souls to them as possible. Was that not destroying lives, the same as these orcs?

If he could, would he destroy every dementor he came across?

Wordlessly he pointed at the orc he had stunned earlier. Ginny shot him an inscrutable look before she too followed suit, pointing at another of the prone figures. Their new acquaintances moved quickly. Gimli raised his axe to the one that Harry had indicated whereas Aragorn made quick work of Ginny's victim.

Harry didn't watch. Instead his wandering eyes caught Gandalf's again. The elderly man was still staring at him and there was something in his eyes that made Harry swallow. It was understanding.

"Were that all of Middle Earth so peaceful," he said sadly, "that we would value life as strong as you."

Harry bowed his head, acknowledging the words, although it didn't really help the guilt and self-disgust he was feeling inside. Gandalf's words made sense, but it went against everything he had been taught, everything he had experienced, even in the war against Voldemort. But he was coming to the realisation that this place was a more –

Wait a minute.

"Middle _what_?!"

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Dun Dun DUUUUNNN!

This was originally a much shorter chapter… but I felt mean so have combined it with the next one to make rather a large chapter (mainly to appease all you reviewers out there who hate me for cutting off the previous chapter when I did!). I hope you enjoyed it :o)

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Eight**

"Middle _what_?!"

The four men looked at them in confusion. "Middle Earth," Gandalf repeated, surprised.

"What is Middle Earth?" Ginny asked breathlessly, although the sinking feeling in her stomach told her that she already knew.

"It is where you are – where we all are," Aragorn said rather unhelpfully. "It is the name given to all the land there is."

' _Ok, it's not necessarily that bad,_ ' Ginny reasoned with herself, ignoring the slight hysteria bubbling up inside. ' _Maybe Middle Earth is an older name that fell out of fashion._ ' For what, exactly, she didn't know…

"You've never heard of France? Egypt? Rome?" Harry asked, voice slightly higher than normal. The men looked just as blank as before.

"What about Australia or New Zealand? China? America? Russia?" Ginny's voice got more and more desperate with every shake of the head. She exchanged a panicked look with Harry. Merlin, this was _not_ happening!

"These are villages where you come from?" Gandalf enquired, curious.

Ginny barely restrained a hysterical laugh at that one. "No, they're _countries_."

The four physically started at that. "All of them are different lands?" Gandalf said, taken aback. "Surely they must be far away indeed if I have not heard of them. Where do they lie in Middle Earth?"

"They must be either east, far beyond the lands of Rhûn, or in the far south," Legolas said, before either she or Harry could respond. He frowned at the two of them. "Although they do not look like Southrons."

"Maybe it would help us if you told us _exactly_ where we are," Harry said tightly. "We're… um, well, pretty lost."

Ginny did let out a hysterical laugh at that one. That was a bloody understatement. She ignored the strange look the men gave her, too busy trying not to break out into even more laughter or start screaming in rage and hexing everything about her.

This was a bloody _nightmare_.

They had been lost in the wilderness for more than a week now; surviving on only fish, summoned water and the odd bits of fruit they found in the forest; had been attacked by _orcs_ , dark creatures whose only purpose in life seemed to be to destroy every living thing in their path; and now it seemed that their lack of food or even time travelling was the least of their problems. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

"You stand in Fangorn Forest, in the north-west of Rohan," Aragorn said with a frown. When they both continued to look blank he elaborated more. "East of Isengard and west of Gondor. We are also south of the Elven realms of Lothlórien and Northern Mirkwood."

"Wait, _elven_?" Harry interrupted, looking astonished. "As in… _elves_?"

"Of course," Aragorn said, looking surprised now. "Have you not elves where you come from?"

"Well, yes, but… they have their own countr – er, lands?" Harry asked, seemingly unable to grasp the concept. Not that Ginny could blame him. The very idea of a city inhabited by nothing but the small little creatures was almost impossible to imagine. If Harry _was_ right and they simply _had_ gone back in time then… how the hell had the existence of house elves changed so much that they existed only enslaved to a witch or wizard? Ginny uneasily had the thought that maybe she should have put a bit more thought and effort into supporting Hermione when she started going on about S.P.E.W.

Legolas shifted at that, looking affronted. "Of course we do," he said, almost snapping at them. "Why should we not? Elves are the wisest amongst all the races of Middle Earth."

' _We? Wait…_ '

" _You're_ an elf?" Ginny exclaimed, staring at him in bewilderment. Besides her, Harry was staring, mouth open.

"I thought you said you had elves where you came from?" Gimli asked, suspiciously.

Harry's mouth was still gaping. "We – we do," Ginny agreed faintly, staring once more at the tall, graceful man, with his long blond hair and beautiful face. Nothing _less_ like an elf could be imagined and yet… "They don't look – I mean, they're very – _seriously_? _You_ are an elf? An _actual_ elf?"

No doubt about it, Legolas was looking extremely miffed. The others, whilst still looking confused, were beginning to smile. Gimli wasn't even bothering to hide his amusement. "Why, milady?" he asked her, eyes twinkling. "What do elf-kind look like in your lands?"

"Well, they're shorter for one thing," she said carefully.

Not careful enough, apparently, because Gimli let out a great bellow of laughter and Legolas actually went pink. "Shorter?" Gimli asked, leaning forward on his axe eagerly. " _How_ short exactly?"

"Um…" Harry had finally managed to stop staring enough to give an answer. "Pretty short," he said, indicating a height barely above his knee.

Gimli actually roared at that, great rumbling laughs reverberating through the woods interspersed with various unintelligible words. Legolas had gone completely red at that and started shouting something in the strange musical language from before. It didn't matter how nice it sounded; Ginny was pretty sure he was swearing his socks off.

As for the other two… Aragorn, trying to supress his own grin, was attempting to calm down his irate friend, speaking in that same language. It didn't seem to be working.

Gandalf, however, was laughing quite openly, leaning on his stick for support, in a similar fashion to Gimli. The dwarf, however, had long since abandoned his axe and was actually rolling on the ground, laughing so hard he was actually crying.

"Erm, sorry," Harry said apologetically to Legolas once the others had all calmed down somewhat. "But they look completely different to you as well, if that helps. I think we just must use the same name for different, erm, peoples?"

Legolas nodded, although it was still stiff. "And what of dwarves?" he asked. His voice was calm but there was a hint of menace underneath. "What are dwarves like in your lands?"

Harry looked at him blankly. "Dwarves?" he repeated uncertainly before looking across at Ginny. "Do we have dwarves?"

Ginny shook her head slowly, beginning to feel sick. This was getting to be _so_ much more complicated than time travel. "No, I've never heard of them."

There was no laughter this time. "Never _heard_ of them?" Gimli said, indignantly.

Ginny sighed. She could see where this was going. "No," she said apologetically. "Is… is that what you are?"

Gimli growled. "Of course!"

Harry shrugged. "Sorry. We don't have dwarves where – erm, in our lands," he said. Ginny shot a look at him. At first glance he didn't seem too worried at all, but it was there in his eyes. He was beginning to feel just as panicked as she was but was obviously trying to hide it. Ginny swallowed back her urge to scream hysterically and decided to follow suit. "But then again we don't seem to have your kind of elves either," Harry continued and Gimli looked mollified.

"How is it possible that there are no dwarf- or elven-kind in their lands?" Aragorn asked Gandalf, looking confused but also slightly suspicious.

Gandalf frowned, but it was in thought rather than in anger or suspicion. "It is possible," he said slowly. "After the fall of Numenor elven kind mostly settled in the western lands, as did dwarfish kind. If they are from the Eastern lands it may be that there are no elvish or dwarfish settlements there. Either that or they are hidden from the race of Men."

Most of that went totally over Ginny's head, although she gathered that wherever they were in this 'Middle Earth' it was to the west and that not much was known about the eastern lands. Race of Men she took to mean humans, although she did find it slightly offensive.

"So you have three main races in, erm, Middle Earth?" Harry asked, curious. "Are you two both humans then?"

"Humans?"

"Er, from the, ah, race of Men," Harry elaborated, blushing slightly.

"I am," Aragorn confirmed, smiling at them, "although Gandalf is of the Istari."

"The what now?" Ginny asked, confused. Dwarf and Elf she could relate to, as they existed at the very least in mythology, but 'Istari' was a completely new word. She squinted at Gandalf; he looked human, but then for the most part so did Gimli and Legolas.

"You do not know?" Aragorn asked, shocked.

Both of them shook their heads. Ginny didn't know about Harry but she was getting tired of everyone being totally shocked and confused by everything they said. ' _Especially,_ ' she thought wryly, ' _as Harry and I should be the ones running around and screaming in a panic._ '

Gandalf smiled kindly at them. "Istari is the Sindarin name for my kind," he told them, although that didn't make any more sense. "The race of men more typically call my kind wizards."

' _Oh. My. God._ '

"You're a wizard?" Ginny gasped out, staring at him in amazement. Belatedly she remembered what had happened when Harry had first tried to stun Aragorn. Gandalf had _deflected_ it! They'd forgotten because the orcs had attacked immediately afterwards but now it jumped to the forefront of her mind. He _was_ a wizard!

Gandalf smiled. "Yes, I am Gandalf the White."

"The whi – oh shit," Ginny swore, realising instantly what that meant. She looked over at Harry whose eyes had also widened in realisation. Harry hastily placed his wand on his palm and performed the now familiar spell. " _Point me white wizard,_ " he incanted and, sure enough, the wand turned and finished pointing straight at Gandalf.

"Well… I guess that's that," Harry said, with an air of resigned finality.

She knew what he was thinking. All through their conversation with the strangers – even with the rising nausea she felt – something in the back of Ginny's mind was whispering that this wasn't real – it was just an obstacle that they had to get by before they were back on their route, chasing down their elusive magical community. To be faced with the truth that the wizard they were hoping would get them back to England had no clue what that was… it was a pretty hard pill to swallow.

"So… where do these, um, Istari live?" Ginny asked tentatively, ignoring the confused looks the men were shooting them.

"Live?" Gandalf repeated, tone musing. "The five of us have spread out all other Middle Earth – "

"Five? FIVE?" Ginny couldn't believe her ears. Neither, it seemed, could Harry.

"There are just _five_ of you?" he said, blinking. "That's it? In the whole fricking _world_?!"

Gandalf was saying something about divine purpose, blah, blah, but Ginny couldn't hear him through the roaring in her ears. She didn't know what she was going to do first – be sick, pass out or simply start screaming. This could _not_ be happening! _Five_ wizards? She thought of her and Harry's initial confusion over the point me spell when they'd tried 'wizard'. It had flicked to just three places which they thought simply the closest wizards but in fact it seemed it was showing the _only_ wizards.

And if there were only five wizards in the world, what did that mean about witches? She had to see. " _Point me witch,_ " she chanted and her wand span around on her palm. Eventually it stopped, pointing somewhere to their left – to the east. She waited for it to flick around and show other locations… but it didn't.

"Just one?" she whispered, staring at it. She looked up at Harry, who was staring at it, equally horrified. "Only one witch?" She looked across at the men. "How is that _possible_?"

She stopped.

Despite the fact that they couldn't exactly call the strangers friends, it was fair to say that there was an understanding between them – probably something to do with saving each other's lives in battle. That was why she was taken aback by the cold expressions of the others and the range of weapons being pointed at them once more.

"What know you of the Witch-King?" Aragorn asked harshly.

"Witch _what_?" Harry asked. He was gripping his wand tightly and eying the others warily. "Witch-King? What kind of sense is that?"

"Why would a witch be a King?" Ginny asked, own wand up now. "That's ridiculous – surely it would be a Witch-Queen?"

"He is named the Witch-King because he used his foul sorcery to rule over the realm of Angmar for a millennia," Gandalf said. He alone of the others had not raised his weapon. "Now he has joined his master Sauron once more, to lead the armies of Mordor."

That was quite a lot of information all at once, most of which Ginny didn't understand. The one thing she did, however… "He's a _he_?"

"What sort of games are you playing lassie?" Gimli growled at them. "What else would he be?"

"How about a _female_?" Ginny said, raising a sardonic eyebrow.

Gimli opened his mouth to interrupt but was silenced by a small cough from Gandalf. "I think that it's possible there is some sort of misunderstanding, master dwarf," he said, looking at them with a slight smile.

"Where we come from the term 'witch' is just the name we give female wizards," Harry said hurriedly, seemingly relieved at the interruption. "So, I'm a wizard and Ginny is a witch." He made a face at her as their weapons quickly shifted so they were all pointing at her. "I'm guessing that the term 'witch' here means an evil magic doer?"

"Dark sorceries are practised by witches," Gandalf agreed. Ginny resisted the urge to throw her hands up in the air in frustration. She just couldn't catch a single break! " _But_ recent times have shown us that they can be practised by wizards just as easily," he acknowledged, sounding a little sad.

That seemed to be a signal, for all of the others lowered their weapons, though they kept shooting Ginny suspicious glances, something she tried very hard not to be offended by. "So, in your, um, lands, would I be called an Istari, like Harry?" Ginny asked, trying to move the conversation away from evil witches.

Gandalf shook his head. "I think not, Lady Ginny" – "Euch, just Ginny, please!" – "for there is more to my kind than being able to perform magic."

"Like what?" Harry asked, as confused as Ginny. Surely that was all a wizard was – it certainly was for them. What did it mean for these strange people?

Gandalf started to answer then stopped, shaking his head and smiling. "The tale of my arrival on Middle Earth is not a short one – nor, I suspect, will your own tale be. The telling will take several hours and it is already approaching daylights end." Ginny started at that. It was hard to tell in the forest, which was naturally gloomy, but now that she thought about it there was definitely an extra depth to the shadows she hadn't noticed before. "I suggest we make ourselves comfortable and settle down here for the night."

That was fine with Ginny. Hell, it wasn't as if they had anything better to do or even anywhere else to go – their magic had led them right to this strange group and she had to believe that was for a reason. After all, there were only _five_ fricking wizards in the entire world and what were the odds that the one they found would a) be so close and b) actually be helpful?

Pretty damn small.

However happy she and Harry were with that arrangement, Gandalf's companions were definitely not.

"Spend the night in Fangorn? Gandalf, are you mad?" Gimli whispered hoarsely, eyes suddenly darting around them suspiciously. He wasn't the only one; both Aragorn and Legolas were looking less than eager about their proposed stay. "There is nothing but darkness in these woods."

"Nothing in Fangorn will harm you whilst you're with me," Gandalf told him kindly but the dwarf didn't look too happy with that, something that Gandalf took affront with.

Harry cleared his throat somewhat hesitantly. "We can, um, put some wards – that's a kind of magic – up that will stop anything from noticing us or coming near," he offered. "It's not much but it's stopped us being bothered the other two nights we've spent in the woods."

Ginny shot Gandalf a look when the other three started exclaiming in wonder at the idea of such a magic. Did this mean he didn't offer his magic around so willingly, she wondered, or was it because warding of that nature had not been invented yet? He accepted their help readily enough, however, with a twinkle in his eye that left Ginny none-the-wiser.

She let it go with a sigh, helping Harry perform the various charms on the clearing they were occupying.

"You realise this isn't as simple as going back in time, right?" she said quietly to Harry, even as his arm flicked out the familiar patterns for the 'notice-me-not' charm.

Harry's arms stilled as he finished the ward and he looked at her. "Yes," he said, swallowing. "There are too many… _differences_ and discrepancies." He sighed, closing his eyes. "And, of course, _nothing_ in my life would ever be as simple as travelling back in time several centuries."

Despite their situation, Ginny couldn't help but let out a small snort at that. "Well, that's a sentence I bet you never thought you'd say."

He smiled slightly at that but it quickly faded. "We're never going to get back, are we." It was a statement, not a question.

"Hey, we're here for a _reason_ ," Ginny said firmly, trying to repress her rising panic. She knew Harry's moods all too well and the last thing they needed was for him to sink into a well of remorse and self-blame. "No, I mean it," she said as Harry opened his mouth to respond. "Remember what Gandalf said – only _five_ wizards in the world and we meet up with one that's actually helpful? That is _not_ a coincidence, Harry. I have to believe that. And," she said loudly as he opened his mouth again, "this is _not your fault_. It is _Voldemort's_ fault."

"You being here is my fault though," Harry said glumly looking down.

"No, it is _Voldemort_ 's fault. Yes, you asked me, but I agreed to come. And I'd much rather be here with you than think of you here all on your own," Ginny added, reaching out and grabbing his hand. That last bit was true. Merlin knows what kind of mess he would get in without her.

Eventually Harry looked up at her. "Thanks, Gin," he said, squeezing her hand and resting his forehead on hers. She simply closed her eyes and tried to let all her panic and fears dissipate away. Hysteria and panic was not going to help them here.

After a few seconds they broke apart. "Come on," Ginny said quietly, "these wards aren't going to set themselves."

Without another words they turned back and carried on their enchantments.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Uh-oh. Realisation has finally begun to sink in (although on the whole I really loved writing this chapter and the interaction between the two incredulous parties. Especially poor Legolas. Bless).

Also I totally messed with the timing. Assume the remnants of the Fellowship spent several hours tracking Pippin and Merry through Fangorn.

 _ **ADDITION: reflection on the subject of dwarves in HP**_

When I first wrote this chapter I completely forgot about the dwarves mentioned in Chamber of Secrets until a couple of reviewers pointed out my oversight. I then sat and mulled over dwarves in the wizarding world for a long time. At first I was extremely annoyed with myself for forgetting about them… and then I began to wonder why. Honestly it's not that surprising. In all of the books, before and after CoS, Jo makes no mention about the subject of dwarves as a separate magical race. In OotP, when the fountain of magical brethren is revealed, there are goblins, house elves and centaurs but no dwarves. There is a lot of debate in the books about how these certain sentient species are perceived as beasts by humans, seen as lesser beings, yet there is no mention made of dwarves. If they are seen as equals to humans then they would make the perfect argument for the inclusion of goblins etc. If they weren't, then surely they should be added to that mix?

In any case, when reading Chamber of Secrets to check what happens during Valentines the only reference made to Lockhart's 'cupids' as dwarves comes from Harry's own thoughts. At no point that I can see does anyone else refer to the 'cupids' as dwarves. And, let's be honest, Harry only learns things about creatures in the magical world if he is taught them or if (usually) Hermione or Ron tell him. How does he _know_ those are dwarves? I think it is an assumption on his part, based on perceptions he has learnt in the muggle world, and in fact he is just being very un-pc and referring to the fact that the cupids are 'short'.

Philosophical reflection done now! Hope I didn't bore you too much but (as you can probably tell) I've been thinking about it a lot! Anyway, thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Nine**

It was turning into one of the strangest nights of Aragorn's long life.

He'd watched with wonder as the two strange not-Istaris had waved their sticks – wands, apparently was their name – in peculiar patterns and speaking strange words. He was well versed in a variety of Middle Earth languages, as was Gandalf, but even he looked bemused at the strange sounds.

And then, without even saying a word, the male – Harry – had caused bright blue flames to erupt in the middle of the clearing.

Aragorn scuttled backwards with a yell and Harry probably never realised how close Legolas came to shooting him. A woodland elf, the Prince was nervous around fires in any forest but in one as angry and restless as Fangorn? Aragorn _himself_ almost yelled at the two to put it out.

Harry had looked surprised at the demand when Legolas calmed down enough to speak it. "But it's not burning anything," he said, "and the, erm, _Forest_ hasn't minded the other times we've done it."

The boy obviously was not aware of or did not believe in the sentience of the surrounding trees but it took just a moment for Aragorn to realise he was right. The woods were silent – nary one tiny groan or creak sounded. And although the oddly coloured flames burned merrily and hot, when he crouched down to the ground he saw that fire was _hovering_ above the forest floor. ' _What strange fire is this,_ ' Aragorn thought, straightening up to look at Harry speculatively, ' _that requires no wood yet provides such a heat?_ ' Even Gandalf could not provide a fire such as this one.

Gimli said it best when he told the pair, "Truly, your magicks are wondrous."

If Aragorn thought that this was to be the weirdest thing he saw – or heard – that night, however, he was to be sorely mistaken.

Their two 'guests' were from another world.

"Another _world_?" Aragorn repeated, mystified. He looked at Gandalf but the Istar's expression was inscrutable. Gimli looked equally as stymied and Legolas' slight frown indicated he was also perplexed. Did they mean another land? Or maybe another realm?

"No," Ginny said, shifting nervously when he asked them. "Another completely, 100 percent, different world." She made a face. "Or at least that's what we think."

"Everything here is so strange and different, you see," Harry said in a rush when no one spoke. The pair were both tense, hands clutching their wands on their laps. "You already know our 'elves' are different, and we don't have dwarves. And our witches and wizards… well, there are thousands of them, not just a handful."

Aragorn blinked at them, astonished. " _Thousands_ of your kind?" he asked. It was almost impossible to imagine. Even for him, seeing such pure magical skill was a rarity and he travelled with elves, dwarves and an Istar. Thousands meant there would be such as these two running around in every land – in every town and village! No, it was truly inconceivable!

"Do all your kind possess the same abilities?" Legolas asked. Aragorn glanced at his friend. On the surface the elf just looked interested but Aragorn knew him well enough to see the faint hint of wonder in his eyes.

"Er… I guess for the most part," Harry said after exchanging a glance with Ginny. "Most fifth years could do the spells we've done so far but there are some spells that are harder than others."

"Are you saying that _five_ year olds of your kind can perform those enchantments?" Gimli interrupted, shocked. "Truly, your race is a fearsome one!"

"What? Oh… no, erm, 'fifth year' means they're in their fifth year at school. Sorry – that means they're about 15/16 years old."

"Plus our, uh, 'race' is the same as yours," Ginny added before Aragorn or any of the others could express their astonishment that even fifteen year olds were capable of such feats. It was an unspoken rule in middle earth that the more magical a species was the longer it took to mature. Not the case with these.

"The same as ours?" Gimli repeated, confused. "What do you mean lassie?"

"Witches and wizards are all human – from the race of Men." Ginny seemed to sense their disbelief at this pronouncement; her eyes flicked nervously from face to face. "It's just that some of us are magical and some of us aren't. Non-magical people are called muggles but they can have children who are witches and wizards. And some witches and wizards can have children who are sq- er, the same as muggles." She looked across at Gandalf. "I'm assuming that isn't the case here? You're a completely different race to Aragorn?"

Gandalf eyed them thoughtfully. "For your first question the answer is yes," he agreed, "and no. Whilst there are none I would call 'wizard', there are some amongst the other races who hold some magical skill." He inclined his head towards Aragorn. "Aragorn, for example, is an excellent healer."

Both their heads turned towards him. "Oh," was all Ginny said, whilst Harry frowned thoughtfully at him.

"As for myself I am of a different kind to the races of Men, dwarves, elves and all others on Middle Earth," Gandalf continued. "I am of the Maiar and was sent here nearly 2000 years ago to assist the races of Middle Earth in their struggle against the forces of darkness."

Both the strangers gaped at him. "Two _thousand_ years ago?" Harry repeated, blinking. "You're _two thousand years old_?!"

"That's impossible!"

Gandalf quirked a smile at them. "Impossible?" he repeated wryly, causing Ginny to blush slightly. "I personally consider 2000 to be quite a young age – especially when compared to the lives of the elves."

Both of their faces shot over to Legolas then. Aragorn tried not to laugh at his expression. "How old are _you_ then?" Ginny demanded, tone hinging on rude.

Legolas raised an eyebrow at them. "I was born 2000 years ago," he said, a trifle haughtily. "I am one of the youngest among elf-kind."

If Aragorn had thought their expressions were astonished before, this was nothing to how completely astounded the pair looked now.

"Youngest?" Harry repeated, unable to stop staring at Legolas. "2000 years old is one of the _youngest_?!"

"I don't believe it!" Ginny said, looking rather faint. "We consider ourselves lucky if we live to over 140!"

"Makes Flamel look like a bit of an amateur really, doesn't it," Harry murmured, drawing a startled laugh out of Ginny.

"Merlin, yes," she agreed, still laughing. "And can you imagine how pissed Voldemort would be?"

This time Harry was the one who looked startled before laughing. The rest of the company just watched them, bemused at their amusement. As he observed them Aragorn felt that this laughter signified something more to both of them, although what it was he could not say. At the very least, when they finally stopped laughing, they looked a lot less tense.

"Sorry," Harry said eventually, looking a trifle sheepish. "We just, um… well, the only things that live that long on our world are _trees_. We witches and wizards always thought we lived a long time but that's nothing compared to you two."

"Do dwarves live for thousands of years too?" Ginny asked Gimli.

"Alas, my lady, we do not," Gimli said with a smile. "But the years we do live are full ones – with much glory and adventure. More so," he said in a mock-aside, "then these _elves_ manage in all their many centuries."

Aragorn repressed a smile. However much their rivalry had turned to mutual respect and trust, neither Gimli nor Legolas could help riling the other up from time to time. Legolas didn't say anything in response, just narrowed his gaze slightly. Harry and Ginny didn't know whether or not they should laugh at that. Instead they settled for shooting each other quizzical looks.

"So we have determined that the races you know are very different to the races you have encountered," Gandalf said after a short pause. "All of this does not explain, however, why you have determined that this is in fact a different world to your own."

The whole company around the fire sobered slightly, Gandalf's comment bringing them back to the real reason they were meeting. It wasn't quite a question but Harry, after a moment's pause, answered it anyway. "One of the charms we can do," he said, lifting up his wand and holding it out on his palm, "is a directional charm. You already saw us use it. _Point me north_."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the small dark stick spun before stopping, hovering above his palm and pointing due north. Aragorn watched it, fascinated yet again by the ease – and practicality – of their magic. He remembered the spell from earlier on but they had said different words then.

"It's extremely useful. You can use it in its simplest form to find north or can adapt the spell to find a town, city or even a country. Right now, though, we can't 'find' anywhere we know."

"The world is a big place, laddie," Gimli pointed out. "You could just be on the far side of it."

Both of them were shaking their heads however. "That's not it," Ginny said sadly. "We know the names of countries from every part of the world. The spell can't locate any of them." She made a strange noise, partway between a sob and a growl. "I don't know why we didn't check before but it just seemed so ridiculous… we never even _considered_ that those places – our world – simply didn't exist."

"But you are considering it now."

It was not a question. Harry put his head in his hands, sighing. "There are too many differences between your world and ours," he said, "even _before_ we knew about the whole age thing. At first we thought we'd gone back in time – we don't, um, dress like that anymore – but then there were you two" – he nodded at Gimli and Legolas – "and the whole idea of 'Istari' wizards. And when you said 'Middle' Earth…"

"You call your world something different," Aragorn said softly.

Ginny nodded. "Just plain old Earth."

There was silence at that. The whole idea to Aragorn was still as incredible as on first hearing. A different world? One full of witches and wizards but no elves or dwarves? Surely it could not be so. But the more he thought about it, the more he began to believe it might just be possible. Right from the start, even before he laid eyes on them, neither of them were 'right'. They did not behave like any race he had met and their ignorance was quite astonishing.

That wasn't even mentioning their incredible magicks.

"Do you believe us?" Ginny asked suddenly, desperation in her tone.

Aragorn looked up at them, unsure. If he was being completely truthful, his mind could not accept their tale. He had seen and participated in a lot of inexplicable events during his years on Middle Earth but Istari from another world was almost impossible to truly comprehend. His heart, however, was urging him to believe them; their words were honest.

"Gandalf?" Legolas asked softly. Gimli and Aragorn also looked to their old friend. In matters of magicks he was still the wisest of them. He knew better than any other the capability of magic and whether or not such realms – such other worlds – did exist.

At first, however, Gandalf didn't even appear to hear his question or feel their scrutiny. Instead he was gazing into the fire, apparently lost in thought. None of the others said anything, although Aragorn could see Ginny and Harry exchanging nervous glances.

Eventually Gandalf stirred. "After 2000 years on Middle Earth I had long believed that I had mastered what magic expected of me," he said. Ginny and Harry looked at him uncertainly but Aragorn felt his heart lightening. He knew Mithrandir long enough to recognise the humour in his tone. "Yet it still remains that even I can be surprised and learn something new. I believe you."

The pair's relief was almost palpable as they grinned across at Gandalf in thanks. With Gandalf's acceptance of their story, however, it was as though the Falls of Rauros had been unleashed. Once they had let the notion of another world, not connected to their own, settle in, the remnants of the Fellowship suddenly found themselves almost overwhelmed with questions they wanted to ask. They raced around Aragorn's mind and for once in his life he was almost speechless with indecision. What should he ask – what should he ask first?

Gimli managed to ask the first question – "What sort of creatures existed" – and their answer took almost a full half an hour as they had to stop and explain nearly every one. The idea of a centaur confused Aragorn immensely whereas the notion of goblins being the tenders of gold and precious jewels was a revelation that brought up a whole new slew of questions.

It was whilst Ginny was trying to explain to him how you approached a hippogriff – a half-horse, half-eagle creature that Aragorn found hard to imagine – that Gandalf cleared his throat and suggested that it was already bound to be a long night, and that perhaps they should move on to how they had arrived in Middle Earth.

It had been a long time since Aragorn had felt chastised and he was rather embarrassed to find himself go slightly red. Luckily, he wasn't the only one.

All at once the mood around the blue camp fire settled and changed, becoming slightly more solemn. This was due to the sudden change in expression upon both Ginny and Harry's faces. The latter especially seemed grave as he stared into the bluebell flames.

"Right. I guess… well, that's really my story to tell," he said solemnly. "I know our world sounds wonderful and strange but it wasn't all good. There was this dark wizard. Voldemort. And he had decided to eliminate anything that wasn't magical, wasn't _pure_ ," Harry spat and Aragorn flinched, although not from the anger in Harry's voice. He looked over at Gandalf but the Istari was watching Harry with a concentrated expression on his face. Aragorn turned back.

"I won't go into details of what he was like and what he did… just that it was a war which we managed finally to end about three months ago."

"We?" Legolas asked sharply. "Surely the two of you are but children?"

Both of them smiled humourlessly at that. "We are adults where we can from now but even so…" Harry took a deep breath. "Yes, we were, but that doesn't matter. What _does_ matter is that when he died, Voldemort left places, artefacts, around that were enchanted and cursed. If we didn't get rid of them, then either one of his followers that had escaped Azkaban would – "

"Azkaban?" Gimli asked.

"Wizard prison," Ginny said quietly but didn't elaborate, motioning for Harry to continue.

"Right, so, we had to destroy and remove any curses he left lying around," Harry continued after a pause. "As of about a week ago, there was only one place left to tackle; a cave, hidden from sight and enchanted with Inferi."

"Inferi," Ginny said, catching Gimli's eye, "are dead bodies that a dark wizard can enchant to do their bidding. The only way to stop them is fire."

Legolas let out a curse, Aragorn following suit. The Valar save them should Sauron ever learn such a foul trick. Orcs were monstrous enough but an army of the dead…. He shuddered.

"Yeah, pretty horrendous," Harry agreed, giving them a sad smile. "But the Inferi in this cave were under a vast lake and I knew from… from experience that the only way they would stir was if the waters were disturbed. So we stayed away.

"Anyway, I had some Unspe – er, witches and wizards with me that specialised in the type of wards and spells that Voldemort would have left behind. We got through the first barrier fine but then something went wrong and we triggered a failsafe."

Gimli stirred at that, presumably to ask what a failsafe was, but Aragorn sent him a look. This was not the time to interrupt the young wizard.

"In our world there are three spells called Unforgivables because they are the most horrendous, darkest of magicks." Harry's voice was very quiet now and he looked immeasurably sad. "The worst of these is called the Killing Curse. You get hit by that curse you die. Instantly. Simple as that. There's no counter curse, no shield that will stop it and no way to save a person that gets hit by it. You're dead."

"That's what the failsafe triggered. Building up all round us, that shade of green," Ginny said, equally quiet. She shuddered. "Once you see that colour, you don't forget it."

Harry reached over and grabbed her hand. It was not the first time Aragorn had observed the easy relationship between the two of them. He thought they were too young for marriage but maybe things were different in their world.

"How did you escape?" Gandalf asked solemnly.

Harry gave a wry smile at that. "I'm not entirely sure we did. Not completely anyway." He gave a deep sigh and then finished. "Another… spell, I suppose, we can do is transport instantly from one place to another. We call it apparation."

"Surely such a thing is impossible?!" Legolas cried, looking shocked. "Mithrandir…"

"I think we can safely assume that whatever magicks I possess, Legolas, they are vastly different in breadth and style to our two young friends," Gandalf said, smiling at the astonished elf. "Although even I have to admit that the idea of instantaneous travel is quite astonishing."

"Is it difficult?" Gimli asked eagerly.

Ginny made a face. "Sort of. More because you need to concentrate completely on your destination. If you don't then you could splinch yourself – er, leave parts of yourself behind."

All four let out cries of horror at that. "Why would anyone ever risk such a travel if that be a true risk?" Gimli exclaimed, his previous enthusiasm apparently disappearing instantly.

"It is quite rare," Harry said, smiling slightly. "But you need to have a licence – oh, erm, basically past a test – before you can do it. And there are people employed by the Ministry – that's the wizards in charge – who put people back together if that happens."

"You can put people who are torn apart back together again?" Gimli asked, seemingly unable to stop asking questions. Not that Aragorn could blame him; every new revelation sent shockwaves through his mind.

Ginny smiled. "I think you'll find magic can do most things pretty easily," she told him. Her expression sobered. "That's why the Killing Curse is so terrible in our world. We are a people that cheat death as a matter of course – we're hardier than muggles so don't get sick or injured as easily and what accidents we _do_ have magic can fix pretty easily even if it's putting back together someone who is in several pieces. To have one spell that no one can _ever_ survive… it's abhorrent to us all."

There was a silence after that, leaving Aragorn to ponder her words. If he was truthful, their revelation of the Killing Curse had not horrified him much. Whilst the use of magic for such means was anathema, Harry's description made it sound no worse than a sword or an arrow. Indeed, compared to the slow painful death a wound to the gut could incur, their instant, painless death sounded preferable.

But then had not the two of them already showed that their attitudes to life and death were vastly different to those of Middle Earth? They had argued for saving _orcs_ , creatures that even the smallest child in all the lands would agree had to die. He had not really understood their aversion and loathing of death until Ginny explained. He felt a brief wistfulness that their realm was so peaceful that death was viewed so.

"Shall you finish your tale, Harry?" Gandalf asked once the silence had stretched further.

The boy gave himself a quick shake. "Right… so, we couldn't apparate out of the cave at first because there were enchantments to prevent us," Harry said, finding the thread of his story with a frown. "One of the other wizards managed to disable it but it wasn't perfect… flickering in and out. I grabbed Ginny and disapparated but at the moment we disappeared…"

He stopped there unable to finish. It was Ginny who told them what happened. "Two of the Killing Curses hit us," she said softly.

The four exchanged puzzled glances. "I thought you said _all_ that were hit by this curse died instantly," Aragorn said.

"They do," Harry said, speaking over Ginny loudly as she tried to say something. She shot him an exasperated glare but didn't try and interrupt again. "We're not sure why we didn't die – we think it might be because we were half-disapparated at the time. In any case, we blacked out and woke up in the dungeon of a great ruined castle."

"A ruined castle?" Gandalf repeated, brow burrowed in thought. "Where did this castle lay?"

Ginny shrugged. "North of us, at the edge of another forest," she said, looking surprised as all four of them stiffened.

"Dol Guldur?" Legolas exclaimed. " _That_ was where you woke up?"

"How did you escape Sauron's forces?" Aragorn asked, amazed.

They looked at him oddly. "What forces? The place was completely abandoned, probably for a long time," Ginny said, "especially judging by the state of the bodies."

"Bodies?" Gandalf asked sharply.

She shuddered. "There were loads of them, all charred and blackened beyond recognition though the stone was untouched – save being a ruin, of course."

"We thought it was the work of some evil wizard," Harry said, frowning from one to the other of them. "That's why we came south – to get as far away from the place as possible."

"This makes no sense, Gandalf, Lord Celeborn told us that the forces at Dol Guldur were as strong as ever when we were at Lothlorien," Aragorn said, agitated. "Neither they nor the elves in Mirkwood could have devastated the foe so completely. They are stretched too thin as it is."

"Even if they had done, my father knows better than to use fire in the midst of Mirkwood," Legolas pointed out. "Although by all accounts this is a fire that burns only flesh and not the forest around it. Such magicks are beyond my people."

But not, Aragorn thought suddenly, beyond their strange new guests.

"It is possible," Gandalf said to the quiet newcomers, "that your arrival in Middle Earth upset the balance of magicks around you. This could be what is responsible for the devastation you saw around Dol Guldur."

They stared at him in horror. "You mean that we – we're responsible for killing _all_ of those people?" Harry asked, pale faced. Ginny looked as though she were liable to pass out.

"Don't look so horrified, laddie," Gimli said, cheerful. "All those 'people' were orcs and whether you meant it or not, hundreds of lives are now saved by their destruction. We're all better off being rid of the filth. Indeed," he laughed, "by all measures you have done us a favour."

Aragorn could see from their faces that the two did not see it that way, but they simply swallowed and let it go for the time being. Harry turned to Gandalf.

"Anyway, that's how we got here - to Middle Earth. Do you… is there anything you can do to help us get back?"

Gandalf contemplated them seriously. "It is possible," he said eventually and their faces lit up, "but the magicks of your world – of your people – are completely different to the magicks possessed by the peoples of Middle Earth. Indeed, there seems little that is similar. We can try but I fear that the magicks that brought you here may be impossible to replicate." He looked sadly down at their heartbroken faces. "I am sorry, young ones."

Harry half shrugged. "It's ok," he said, although his voice shook, belying his ease. "As soon as we saw you we knew that it was more complicated than we thought and then…" He stopped talking then, swallowing. "We can _try_ though?"

"Of course you must try," Gandalf agreed. "But not right now, when we are all weary and have much to digest from tonight's revelations. I suggest we all sleep. I find that even the bleakest of situations look a little better in the light of day."

Harry and Ginny looked uncertain at that but nodded, Harry doing something with his wand to cause the bluebell flames to shrink down considerably. The rest of them set about getting ready for rest. Aragorn was pleasantly surprised when he realised his small patch of ground felt unnaturally comfy. Catching sight of Ginny flicking her wand in Gimli's direction he realised that is must be another of their strange magicks and thanked her. She simply smiled sadly and nodded, heading over to her companion.

It took a long time for Aragorn to succumb to sleep's call. Never since Elrond revealed to him his true name and heritage had he been hit with so many revelations in one day, and even that paled in comparison. In itself, the revelation of Gandalf as still living would have been enough to disturb his sleep, but the night's stories were so fantastical that he half-felt that he had imagined them all. Yet a world so strange and alien was one he could never have thought up.

As Aragorn finally drifted to sleep he belatedly noted that he was not the only one who would experience troubled sleep that night. It was quiet, but distinct for one whose ears had been trained by time traversing the wilds of the North.

The two strangers were crying.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the reviews/faves etc. from the previous chapter! I know that Legolas was a bit ooc last chapter and I did umm and ahh over that but I left it in anyway. Little bit of elvish embarrassment never hurt anyone

Next chapter; they finally get out of Fangorn! I also felt this was a bit short originally (and had copped out of actually writing the conversation of 'hey! We're visitors from a completely different world') so I have gone back and written it in. Hopefully it comes across ok… I think I nearly doubled the word count so at least that's something!

Thanks again! Love, Hannanora xxx


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Ten**

The ground thundered past them at a rather alarming rate.

Or, at least Harry tried to reason with himself, the rate _would_ be alarming if it weren't for the fact that he was used to travelling much faster on his Firebolt. The horses they were travelling were moving at a much slower speed – laughable, really.

Somehow, he didn't feel reassured.

They were currently travelling on horseback across more of the same wide, grassy plains that he and Ginny had been travelling through before entering Fangorn. They were heading to a placed called Edoras, which, as far as both he and Ginny could figure out, was the capital city of the country of Rohan. Not that any of the four had used those words, of course.

It had been strange that morning waking up with someone other than Ginny. They'd been isolated for over a week now and it had taken a few moments to remember what had happened when a particularly loud snore from Gimli had jerked him awake. He'd stared about wildly, wand already in his hand before the events of last night caught up to him. Legolas had looked oddly at him and he smiled sheepishly, hurriedly stowing his wand in his jeans pocket and stretching.

Watching the others get up and get ready it was easy to see that they had been travelling together a long time, especially Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. He had watched them packing away, a half smile on his face. ' _A man, an elf and a dwarf walk into a forest…_ '

"You ok, Harry?" Ginny had asked, yawning. She had looked just as exhausted as he felt. Neither of them had found it easy to fall asleep the night before. What little sleep Harry did get was not exactly restful. His dreams had kicked up a notch once more, the fortress featuring more heavily than before. Maybe it was because he had learned the truth of that situation – that he and Ginny had somehow caused it… Seeing the tear tracks and dark circles on Ginny's face probably meant she had had as disturbed a night as he had.

Well, asking about it wouldn't help either of them. Instead he'd simply nodded in response to her question and finally worked up the courage to ask Gandalf what they should do next.

"You cannot remain here," Gandalf had said gruffly. "You are too close to Isengard and we cannot chance your powers falling into the hands of Saruman. He would use you for great evil."

Well, _that_ was ominous. He'd not quite worked up the courage to ask exactly who – or what – Saruman was before Gandalf had moved on, saying that the best course of action would be to journey with them to Edoras.

Relieved that they wouldn't be parting from their new companions Harry had simply nodded, putting his question to one side. There would be plenty of time later to ask who Saruman was and what Isengard was. It was not the first time that it had been mentioned as a place of fear and evil.

The journey out of Fangorn had been quiet, although Harry wasn't sure whether that was due to caution on the parts of their companions or usual morning grumpiness. At the very least it seemed that dwarves and Istari were not morning people.

When they'd exited the murky forest it was like breathing fresh air again. Harry had not realised exactly how oppressive and heavy the air inside the forest had been but walking back into open plains had been a revelation. He'd even given an unexpected laugh although quickly stopped when all he earned were odd looks.

They had walked across the outside of the forest for a few minutes and inwardly Harry had been wondering how long it would take them to get to this Edoras. Their stock of fish was running low and whilst they had been delighted with the strange flat biscuit-like bread that Legolas had called Lembas there surely was not enough of that to last them too long a journey, even if it was oddly filling.

Then they'd seen the horses.

"You've got to be bloody _joking_ ," Ginny had said, staring at the horses incredulously.

In their now familiar way, all four of their companions had turned and looked at them oddly. "You do not have horses in your world?" Legolas had queried, startled.

"No, we have them," Harry had said, staring wide eyed at the brown horse. It looked so _big_. "We just don't _ride_ them."

"How do you travel from one place to another?" Gandalf had asked, perplexed. "Surely you cannot always walk everywhere – and not all your kind can do your appearation."

"Ap _par_ ation," Ginny had corrected automatically before looking at Harry. It was one thing to tell them about the people in their world, quite another to start introducing concepts like planes, cars and trains. "Erm… and as to the rest… well, it's complicated. But we don't use horses or any other animals."

Gimli had laughed at that. "Truly, the more I hear of your world the less it makes sense!" he'd told them, chuckling. Apparently the levity had brought him out of his morning grumps.

"But what are we going to do?" Harry had asked, still eyeing the horses. "There aren't enough there for all six of us."

"Ah, as to that," Gandalf had said before letting out an eerie whistle. It had made Harry jump, penetrating not only the long distance but also his very bones. It was beautiful, if not spooky, but Harry had looked around them nervously. It was also pretty loud. He really hoped that if there were any more of those orc things around then they were deaf ones.

Ginny's gasp had brought him out of his thoughts and he blinked his eyes. Coming out of the distance was a white horse. Even Harry, who knew nothing about horses, could see that it was a beautiful specimen. In fact, for a few seconds he rather had the impression he was staring at a unicorn. Judging by the twist of Ginny's smile she had thought the same.

Gandalf's companions were just as impressed.

"That is one of the Mearas," Legolas said, awe tinging his voice, "unless my eyes are cheated by some spell."

Ginny frowned at Harry. "Is that just a figure of speech or is he accusing us of something?"

Harry just shot her a look. "Behave," he told her, smile tugging at his lips.

Gandalf was not listening to them, instead just greeted his horse with a smile. "Shadowfax," he said, proudly. "He is the Lord of all horses and he's been my friend through many dangers." He ran a careful hand over Shadowfax's nose, the horse headbutting him affectionately.

"That's still only three horses for six of us though," Ginny pointed out carefully.

"We shall have to double up," Gandalf said cheerfully, clambering onto Shadowfax's back. "Harry you can ride with Aragorn; Ginny with me."

Both of them blanched slightly at that exchanging nervous glances. "Erm…. right," Harry said, shifting uncomfortably. "It can't be any worse than a thestral, right?"

Ginny shot him a look this time. "Well, considering I can actually _see_ the horse, I'd say it's a hell of a lot better," she pointed out with a grin. Her grin faded slightly at that. "Although I could probably see a thestral now."

"What manner of beast is a thestral?" Gimli asked, sounding curious.

"Not now, Gimli," Aragorn said, already mounted on his own chestnut steed. "We must make with all haste towards Edoras – we have lost enough time as it is."

The two travellers exchanged guilty glances at that. It was the two of them that had held the four up after all. Despite the fact that they hadn't heard much from the others about their own world, it was clear to see that they were facing their own troubles and dangers. So, without another word, they headed towards their respective horses and accepted help to mount up.

That was about half an hour ago now and here they were, thundering across the plains. It wasn't the nicest of experiences – quite painful at first, definitely a weird sensation – and wasn't all that similar to a thestral either. In fact, it didn't bear any real resemblance to any of the magical creatures he had ridden; thestral, hippogriff, dragon…

However, after a while, he began to recognise the rhythm of the horses beats and found a way to merge with it. Once he had discovered that it was suddenly a lot less painful; enough so that he could notice his surroundings.

Not that it looked much different than before.

Aragorn, as though sensing his sudden ease, asked him how he was faring.

"It's… weird," Harry admitted, "but once you get into it it's not so bad."

There was a pause then and Harry grinned – he could almost hear Aragorn's curiosity. "I must confess," the man said eventually, "I still find the idea that your people do not use horses one of the strangest things I have heard about your world."

It wasn't quite a question but Harry could take a hint. "Well, aside from apparation, there are loads of magical means of transport," Harry said, trying to think of which one to explain first. "We can make things called portkeys. That's where you can turn an object into a… er, well, if you touch it it will transport you to somewhere." Inwardly he winced. That was an awful explanation. "What I mean, is someone can charm an object so that whoever touches it will be transported instantly to the destination they set."

"And can travellers be 'splinched' like they can be with you 'apparation'?" The older man stumbled slightly over the odd words but Harry was impressed by his memory.

"No, it is safe," Harry said, ignoring memories of a trophy and a graveyard.

"Then why do not more people use this method of travel?" Aragorn asked.

Harry screwed up his eyes, trying to remember. "Uh, I think the methods to make them are quite heavily guarded and you can only make one if the Ministry approves it. Most people apparate or use floo powder instead."

"Few power?" Aragorn repeated uncertainly.

"Floo powder," Harry corrected with a grin before launching into a description of floo powder, followed by broomsticks. Understandably Aragorn was rather horrified by the idea of stepping into a flaming fireplace and found the notion of flying broomsticks a step too far, even with all of the revelations of the last 24 hours.

"What about these 'muggles'?" Aragorn questioned after a pause. "What do they do if they need to travel? Walk?"

Harry paused, unsure of how to explain. "We have these, er, machines called cars," he said finally. "They're things, like metal carriages – you have carriages, right? – that can move without horses or other animals. That's what we use."

Behind Aragorn jerked in surprise. "They are enchanted by your kind?"

"Erm, no," Harry said. "They work by themselves without any magic. I don't really know how – muggles and magical folk don't really mix."

"Why not?"

Harry sighed sadly. "It's complicated."

There was a pause in their conversation then as Harry thought back to the separation of muggles and magic. He wondered if before the statute of secrecy muggles and wizards had interacted like their four companions. Although, he reminded himself with a grin, an elf and a dwarf weren't exactly muggles.

Taking advantage of the pause, Harry took a moment to ask something that he had been wondering about. "What is this Edoras like?"

Aragorn smiled – or at least it felt like he did – and obliged Harry. "It is not like the other great cities of Men, Elves and even Dwarves of old," he started. "It lacks the awe and majesty you get in other realms but its people are honest and honourable."

As he went onto explain about Rohan and its traditions, Harry turned his thoughts to the man. There was something about Aragorn that Harry just couldn't put his finger on. The more he got to know the man, the more apparent – and yet elusive – the feeling was. The world that he and Ginny had found themselves in was a more barbaric world than the one they had left, riddled with death and bloody battles. Yet despite this, there was something about Aragorn that calmed and reassured him. It was an odd feeling to have after less than a day's acquaintance and Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Aragorn was just telling Harry about something called the Rohirrim when a shout from Gandalf interrupted their conversation and Harry's musings. Refocussing his attention, Harry started to realise there was something on the horizon.

Their destination was in sight!

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Suffice it to say, Ginny's first impressions of Edoras were not good ones.

At first she had liked the look of the odd, rustic town. The thatched roofs, wooden facades, higgledy-piggledy look of the houses were strangely familiar, almost like the older buildings of Hogsmeade. Bizarre as it might seem, the sight of them was comforting and helped her relax slightly. Harry, however, was still more used to the modern muggle cities and she could tell that he didn't find their surroundings nearly as reassuring as she did.

As they made their way carefully through the small town, however, her relief began to fade. As people scuttled out of their way, staring wide eyed, she recognised something else; the expressions of fear in their eyes. The past year living under Voldemort had ensured that she was all too familiar with the pinched looks, the furtive glances. This was not a happy town.

Feeling their suspicious eyes boring into her – not for the first time she cursed her hair for being so distinctive – she shrunk back slightly, unconsciously leaning into Gandalf. His only response was to tighten his grip slightly on the reigns.

She was not the only one who had sensed the tense atmosphere. "You'll find more cheer in a graveyard," Gimli grumbled, his deep voice carrying through the stillness of the town.

Ginny winced, watching as a young mother pulled her gawping child away. Tact, it seems, was not one of the dwarf's strong points.

As they rounded the hill, Ginny got her first clear shot of the hall standing above everything else. On their ride over Gandalf had told her that the hall was where the King, Théoden, ruled over his people. Her first thought was that, whilst undeniably grander than everything else around it, the hall was a bit of a disappointment. She had always assumed that Kings and Queens lived in majestic castles and beautiful palaces; Théoden's 'castle' was only two stories high. The atrium of the Ministry was grander.

But then, she considered, as Gandalf brought Shadowfax to a halt, a large, grand castle would be completely out of place in its surroundings. The hall was not without its impressive side – elaborate carvings, beautiful roofs and a host of armoured guards watching them carefully.

"Off we get, Ginny," Gandalf said behind her, sliding off the horse with an ease she envied. Pulling a face, she managed to slip off and almost buckled as her fit hit the ground. Luckily Gandalf was there to catch her, but she couldn't stop her face going as red as her hair when he let out a chuckle. "Worry not, my dear," he told her as she managed to find her feet again. "You will get used to riding before long."

Ginny made a non-committal noise, too busy trying to repress a grunt of pain. Bloody _Merlin_ her legs were killing her! She stared down at her legs as surreptitiously as possible, immensely surprised when she couldn't see reams of blood. It certainly _felt_ as though her legs had been rubbed raw by the ride, although she was somewhat amazed she hadn't noticed until she dismounted Shadowfax.

"First chance we get I am getting different trousers," Harry's voice groaned from behind her.

She turned around to see the same expression of pain on his face. "Let's make a note," she agreed wryly, "jeans are _not good_ for riding horses."

Gimli, having dismounted from the white horse he and Legolas had been riding, laughed at them. "Worry not," he rumbled, giving Harry a friendly pat on the back, "you shall get used to the beasts soon enough."

"Oh, joy," Harry muttered under his breath and Ginny shot a grin at him.

"Maybe next time we can keep our heads and remember to apply a cushioning charm first?"

Harry made a noise like a wounded hippogriff. "Merlin, Ginny, don't say that," he groaned. "What a bunch of idiots we are."

"Come now," Gandalf called from where he was already halfway to the King's Hall. "We have an appointment to keep."

Ginny groaned and exchanged glances with Harry, even as the others began moving towards the path. "Well… here we go," she said. "Come on, Potter."

As they made their way after their companions, Ginny suddenly had to clamp down on the urge to laugh.

Harry was waddling.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Bit of a shorter one this time (and, again, playing with some timings!) with some lines taken from the film. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	11. Chapter 11

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Eleven**

"Ah!"

Ginny didn't see what Gandalf was so cheery about. The warrior he had greeted was looking quite sternly at the old man. That hostile stare quickly travelled from Gandalf to Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn, before becoming stuck on both Harry and her.

He wasn't the only one staring. All the other guards were looking at them too and she felt herself going red. Both she and Harry had fastened their wizard robes as best as they could and Legolas had lent her a brown cloak to try and hide her trousers, there was no denying that both of them looked out of place. Harry still had to wear his glasses, after all, and their white trainers were still poking out from underneath the dark robes.

"I cannot allow you before Théoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame," the guard said eventually, moving his gaze away from the embarrassed witch and wizard. Harry exchanged a startled glance with her – was Greyhame Gandalf's surname then? Odd. "By order of Grima Wormtongue," he added. Ginny blinked. Was that sourness she detected in his voice?

"Of course, of course," Gandalf said, still very cheerful, motioning to his companions to comply. None of the three looked particularly happy about it but agreed nonetheless. Ginny found herself blinking at the number of weapons the three suddenly produced. Where were they keeping them all?

"And you, boy?"

Harry jumped. "What about me?" he asked, confused.

The guard looked at him as though he were stupid. "You need to turn over your weapons as well."

"Oh. I don't have any."

The guard no longer looked at Harry as though he were stupid – he now looked at him as though he were insane. "You have no weapons?" he repeated, perplexed.

"Erm, no?"

They didn't believe him. "Search him," the guard ordered, ignoring Harry's protest. It didn't take long as Harry had had the foresight to shove most of his belongings in his mokeskin pouch. They hesitated over his jeans, however, and pulled out his wand uncertainly.

"What is that?" the guard asked, accepting it from the searcher.

"It's a stick," Harry said, grumpily. "Can I have it back now?" The guard hesitated. Harry scowled, although Ginny could sense his tenseness. If the guard decided to be petty and snap it… Her own fingers inched carefully towards her own ward.

Luckily the guard threw it back to him and Harry quickly shoved it back in his pocket.

Turning away from him, the guard held a hand out to Gandalf. "Your staff."

"Hmm?" Gandalf said innocently before glancing at his staff. "Oh. You would not part an old man from his walking stick?" If he had been a dog, Ginny would swear he was using puppy eyes.

The guard hesitated before sighing and gesturing at the company to proceed. Unnoticed by the guard, Gandalf shot them all a quick wink before following the oblivious guard. Harry almost started laughing as he played up to his ruse, leaning on Legolas as they proceeded.

As they filed after, Ginny didn't know whether she felt relieved by the fact that they didn't have to search her or insulted that they didn't even consider her capable of being a threat. She was also trying to decide if that was a good thing or not. In a land full of danger and battles it was probably best if they were overlooked – gave them the element of surprise.

As they made their way further into the Hall the welcome got even colder and darker. Unconsciously she moved closer to Harry, feeling mistrusting eyes staring into the back of her head. She tried to ignore them and look around the room they found them in.

The room seemed to be a throne room, although it was almost as gloomy as the dark faces that stared at them. The room was packed to bursting with various men; some in armour, some not; old and young. There were very few women – if any – and every single face was full of distrust, uncertainty and fear.

And then there was a King.

"Holy Merlin…" Harry breathed under his breath, staring at the old man sitting on the throne. Dumbledore had been well over a hundred and fifty when he died, but this man – Théoden, Ginny reminded himself – actually looked it. The King was all white; white, wispy hair sprouted out of his balding head and from behind his tarnished crown; white was the straggly beard that poked out his face; white was the sunken skin that looked as though it had never seen the sun; white was the film over his eyes.

Ginny started at that. Was the King blind? She swallowed. Whatever she had been expecting of King Théoden _this_ was decidedly not it.

As the party approached a smaller, dark man was crouched next to the King, whispering in his ear. Whereas the King was all white, this shorter man was all black; clothes, greasy hair and manner. His skin was even more sallow than the King's, almost yellow in its paleness. Harry made a muffled snorting sound that he quickly turned into a cough. The others looked askance at him but Ginny caught his eye with a small smirk; the darker man looked as though he was channelling Snape's fashion sense.

' _And his sense of humour,'_ Ginny thought as the man sent them nasty, dark looks. Whatever he was telling the King about them, it was not good.

Gandalf seemed to have noticed that too. "The welcome of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King," he said loudly, walking up to the dais. Behind him Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn all stopped walking. Exchanging glances, Harry and Ginny both stopped too, keeping a little further back.

Next to the King, the dark man whispered something else and the King moved his head slowly. "Why should I… welcome you, Gandalf… Stormcrow?" he wheezed laboriously, looking towards the dark man.

He took that as an invitation to take over. "A _just_ question, my liege," he agreed smarmily before leaping to his feet. "Late is the hour in which this _conjurer_ chooses to appear," he sneered, playing to his audience as he walked towards Gandalf. "Lathspell spell I name him. Ill news is an ill guest."

"Be silent!" Gandalf snapped at him. "Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!" He raised his staff and the man immediately backed away, real fear passing across his face.

"His staff! I _told you_ to take the wizard's staff!" he snarled at the guards who immediately lurched to action, pushing and racing to get towards Gandalf. They never got close; Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli immediately jumped on them, taking them out with their bare fists. Harry started towards them, hand already reaching to his back pocket for his wand, but Ginny grabbed his arm.

"What, Ginny?" he asked, confused.

She just shook her head at him. On the ride over Gandalf had told her that she and Harry should exercise caution in using their magic in front of others. Something about trying to keep them hidden for as long as possible.

Harry searched her face for a second before minutely nodding his head and taking his hand away from his back pocket. His other hand he kept gripped in hers, watching the others taking out the guards one by one.

Of course, not using his magic didn't stop Harry from punching one in the face when he tried to sneak up on Aragorn.

All the while the fighting had been going on, Gandalf was still speaking, slowly approaching the decrepit King. "Théoden, son of Thengel, too long have you sat in the shadows," Gandalf said, voice carrying over the grunts and groans of the fighting. The dark man was crawling away bur Gimli leaped on him, pinning him to the ground. Still Gandalf walked forward. "Hearken to me! I release you from the spell!" And so saying, he raised his hand and bowed his head.

Then Théoden started laughing.

Harry's grip on her hand tensed. That was not the laugh of a sane man and it sent shivers down her spine even as Gandalf looked up, surprised.

"You have no… power here… _Gandalf the Grey!"_

At that statement, Gandalf threw back his grey cloak, revealing the white robes underneath. Ginny blinked her eyes, dazzled, and there were gasps around the chamber. Théoden lurched back in his throne, almost as though he had been thrown, letting out a cry of pain.

Gandalf's staff was up now, pointing at Théoden. "I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound," he said, almost menacing in his intensity.

There was some commotion behind them but Ginny only had eyes for Gandalf. Next to her she could feel Harry doing the same, watching intently as the magic unfurled around them. It was so different than their own, unfurling like large unseen clouds as Gandalf focussed on the quavering King.

"If I go… Théoden dies," the King hissed, but there was panic in his eyes.

Gandalf simply jabbed his wand in the air and the magic surged with it, forcing Théoden back against his throne. "You did not kill me," he growled. "You will not kill him!"

"Rohan is _mine!_ " the King snarled, lurching forward to seize Gandalf.

"Be GONE!" Gandalf roared, striking him with the staff and all the magic that Ginny had been sensing building in the last few minutes roared along with it, pure brilliant white pouring into every part of the King's body and purging something else… something darker.

Slumping in his throne, the King moaned suddenly. There was another bustle of movement behind them and suddenly a young woman shot past to catch the King, tears running down her face. As they watched, colour began to slowly bleed back into the King's features; pink for his skin, blue for his eyes and gold for his hair. The features firmed up and slowly shrank, revealing a much younger, healthier face. He looked around him, confused, before catching the eyes of the woman at his side and speaking to her, smiling.

All of this Ginny and Harry watched, somewhat awed. Yes, it was magic, something they should be used to, but it was so different from their own. The magicks of the wizarding world were small, quick and direct… it lacked the… the _majesty_ and grandness of what Gandalf what just did. The sheer amount of power, the way it was channelled… all of it was alien and yet so much more poignant than the little things she and Harry could do. It had more meaning.

Harry leant towards her and murmured something. She nodded her head, still somewhat dazed. Harry was right.

There was _definitely_ something they could learn here.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

So sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter (and how short it is!). I have been caught up in the madness of the end of term and also was hectically sewing and painting costumes for LFCC so I haven't had much time for writing lately. I will be posting a second (longer) chapter in the next few days so don't fear – I haven't abandoned this story!

As a side note one of the costumes I wore for LFCC was LotR related – we made barrels and went as the dwarves in the barrels from the 2nd hobbit film! It. Was. Awesome.

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	12. Chapter 12

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Twelve**

Harry. Hated. Libraries.

It might have come as a surprise to those who had known him at Hogwarts due to the fact that he tended to spend a lot of his time ensconced between dusty shelves, crouched over ancient tomes researching either spells to combat evil, investigating clues to solve the current mystery at Hogwarts or catching up on all the homework he didn't have time to complete earlier because he was too busy fighting evil or solving mysteries.

The truth was though that Harry did not care for libraries. They involved paper cuts; sneezing fits from all the dust caking the neglected books; straining of the eyes deciphering the tiny, faded text; and complete and utter boredom. And while, yes, Harry was forced to admit that libraries were useful, it still didn't mean he had to like them.

If he was being completely truthful to himself, part of Harry's current reluctance and loathing of libraries was exacerbated by the fact that he was stranded so far away from the two friends he usually found himself stuck in a library with; Ron and Hermione. If he closed his eyes, Harry could almost hear Hermione nagging at him to be more careful with the ancient manuscripts accompanied by the whining of Ron that he was utterly bored and would much rather be playing Quidditch.

So, Harry Potter hated libraries. Yet here he was, for the second day in a row, stuck in the Middle Earth equivalent.

Great.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Ginny asked, looking over as Harry groaned in frustration.

"No, no, everything's fine," Harry muttered, inwardly wincing at how whiny he sounded. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time without the whinge. "This one's no good though – I can only make out 1 word in three. I think it's about horse care." So saying he placed the heavy parchment on the 'useless' pile. It was rather depressing how large it was.

Ginny just nodded, choosing not to say anything for which Harry was grateful. She knew just as well as he did that the whole thing was completely utterly pointless. Gandalf had even told them that as he ushered them in there the day before – although in slightly more diplomatic terms – but in the same breath had also insisted that they should try anyway. So try they had.

Not that they had really had much of a choice.

Shortly after the King's miraculous recovery (but after he'd tried to kill the Snape look-a-like. Luckily Aragorn had stepped in to convince Théoden to banish him instead. Harry was glad about that. Whilst logically he knew that their new world was more barbaric than their own, it was still very difficult to see how casually death was dealt out) the man had disappeared, followed quickly by Gandalf. Harry and Ginny had watched them go, feeling both confused and awkward.

At first the Lords around them had been too engrossed in discussing the sudden chain of events to pay much attention to the two strangers in their midst. However, as the minutes passed, the pair of them suddenly found themselves the recipients of more and more stares. Most were curious – more than a few, however, were a cross between incredulity and arrogance.

"Um… where did the others go?" Ginny whispered, going a bit pink.

Harry had been wondering the same thing. "I have no idea," he murmured back. He frowned, uncertain. "Maybe we should have followed Gandalf?"

"No, wait, there's Aragorn!" Ginny suddenly said. Visually relieved, she wasted no time in pushing her way over to him. Harry blinked then quickly followed in her wake.

Aragorn was looking faintly amused by the time they'd made their way over. It probably had something to do with the mutters and looks of outrage as Ginny elbowed her way past them. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or apologise; Ginny just stared up at Aragorn defiantly. "So, what happens now then?"

"Now?" Aragorn repeated, amused expression turning contemplative. "Much has changed in the time that Théoden has been under Saruman's curse. Allies are now enemies, orcs march freely across the lands, his nephew has been banished and his son has been slain. It is much for any man to grasp, even one who has not been trapped by evil enchantment. It will take time to adjust, but time is something we have little of." He broke off with a worried sigh. "I am afraid, Ginny, that I cannot say for sure what Théoden's next move will be."

Harry had blinked at that plethora of information. To say things in Rohan were gloomy and depressing seemed a bit of an understatement after hearing all of _that_. Not for the first time Harry got the feeling that there was something a _lot_ more serious going on in Middle Earth than what (little) information they had been told. He shivered unconsciously. Maybe it had something to do with the way that the name 'Saruman' kept popping up, but the more he heard it the less he liked it.

"Oh. Right," was all Harry actually said though, exchanging an awkward glance with Ginny. As informative as that had been, it definitely wasn't what she had been asking Aragorn about. "Erm, I think Ginny meant what, um, should _we_ do now?"

"Do you just want us to, I dunno, stand here and wait for Gandalf?" Ginny added. Her tone seemed sincere, but Harry knew her well enough to catch the sarcastic undertones. Harry had reached across to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

Aragorn raised an eyebrow, smile playing around his lips. "Why, Ginny, are you not enjoying your first experience of the court of Rohan?"

Ginny scowled, glaring at some of the members of the court who were now staring quite openly at the two of them. "Not especially, no."

Aragorn turned his amused gaze on Harry who simply grimaced. "What she said."

The older man finally laughed at that. "Alright, you two, come with me and let us see what we shall do next."

'Next' had been a costume change.

"What on earth is all of this?!"

Aragorn just laughed as Harry stared in bewilderment at the pile of clothes he'd just been handed. He and Ginny had both been secretly relieved at the suggestion by Aragorn that they swap their other-world clothing for something that would help them blend in a little. Whilst their clothes were comfortable and familiar, the last thing they wanted was to stand out any more than they already did.

The chance to have a proper clean was also extremely welcome. Harry didn't like to think about how much he must have smelt. There was only so much the odd _scourgify_ could do.

But now…

"No, seriously, there has to be at least five tops here… but you said it's _one outfit_?" Harry said, searching through the rough fabric in confusion. He suddenly looked up and peered intently at Aragorn's own clothing. On closer inspection he realised that the older man _did_ appear to be wearing a lot of different layers and it didn't _seem_ to be too complicated. For him. "But which one do I put on first?!"

In the end it took almost ten whole minutes for him to get changed. It ended up not being quite as complicated as he had feared, but he'd never before realised how much he appreciated zips and buttons. He almost went cross-eyed from tying up all the ties.

When he had finished, however, Harry felt like a completely different person. Gone were his slightly ragged jeans and t-shirt; instead he was clothed in, as best as he could describe them, brown trousers, a cream undershirt, a dark green shirt, a long dark brown jacket and a myriad of other smaller layers that he wasn't quite sure the purpose of. The underwear was more like extremely baggy shorts, something that made him feel stranger than everything else put together. The lack of mirrors meant he didn't really know what he looked like, but he certainly didn't really _feel_ like Harry Potter anymore. The new clothes felt strange – heavier, looser, rougher.

He also wasn't used to having shoes that went up higher than his ankle. He twisted around, trying to look at his new boots. Given his druthers, Harry would much rather he had had his trainers but however conspicuous they had looked before would be nothing to how awful they would look with his new medieval get up.

There were only two things that Harry refused to compromise on. The first was his glasses (the sight of Aragorn wearing them was one that made Harry wish he had a camera. Or a pensieve). The second was his wizard's cloak. It wasn't so far off from the cloaks and coats that the people around them were wearing that it would stand out and Harry wanted to hold onto a reminder of where he really came from for as long as possible.

(Plus it had pockets. Pockets were another aspect of modern life that he didn't fully appreciate until all his trousers were back-pocket-less. He'd have to figure out how to create pockets in his new 'trousers' later on. Despite Mad-Eyes warning, Harry still preferred keeping his wand there. And he still had both his buttocks.)

After 24 hours, however, the feel good factor of his new clothes had definitely worn off. The clothes were very heavy, making them exhausting and the rough fabric was incredibly itchy. In fact, Harry thought, it was rather remarkable how extremely uncomfortable they were bearing in mind that all he had been doing was sitting still. Even more ridiculous were the blisters that his new boots had given him considering he'd barely walked in them.

Ginny had it even worse. Whilst at first she'd been enchanted by the long flowing dresses she had been given, the novelty had quickly worn off. However heavy Harry's clothes were, Ginny's were ten times worse and she kept tripping over the long train. She'd eventually found a way around the problem – naming using a severing charm to create large slits in the sides, stealing some leggings from Legolas and glowering at any who looked like they might comment.

Not that they had really seen anyone.

Shortly after emerging in their new outfits Gandalf had ushered the two of them into the records room, saying only that he had spoken to the King. Aragorn followed, interested, as Gandalf plucked out a large scroll from the myriad of shelves and unrolled it on the table.

"This," he said, smoothing out the edges, "is a map of Middle Earth."

Middle Earth didn't bear any resemblance to Earth.

Even as his eyes roved eagerly over the yellow parchment, taking in the new names and boundaries, Harry felt his stomach sink. Although he had expected it, a small part of him still didn't believe that the shape of Middle Earth could be different from the shape of the countries and continents that he knew. He was still expecting to see the boot of Italy, head-shape of Africa and the familiar sight of the British Isles.

None of that was there.

Instead all he saw was one massive land mass, disappearing off into the east, south and north of the page. The west of the map was a massive unnamed ocean, with just one tiny island near the top and it looked nothing like Britain. Sighing, Harry wondered how long it would be before he truly accepted the fact that he was in a completely different world. Glancing up, Harry caught Ginny staring at him, a rueful smile on her lips. Looks like he wasn't the only one.

"You see nothing that you recognise?" Aragorn asked, catching their expressions.

"No," Ginny confirmed sadly. "The shape of our world is completely different."

Although… "How much more of the world – erm, Middle Earth – is there?" Harry asked, peering at the edges of the map. There clearly had to be more than was shown.

"To the east there are the lands of Rhûn and other Eastern lands before meeting the great ocean," Gandalf said, watching the two of them carefully. "To the south lies Haradwaith and Umbar. Both are great lands in their own way, although both the Southerlings and the Corsairs now serve Sauron."

It was not the first time Gandalf had mentioned the name 'Sauron'. Harry exchanged a glance with Ginny. Was it someone else? Or a different pronunciation of Saruman? Ginny shook her head at him, however, and instead leaned across the map, tapping on the western side. "What about across the ocean?"

All four looked at her askance. "None sail West, save those of elven kind," Aragorn said. "They follow the straight road to the Undying Lands."

Harry blinked. That made no sense to him. "Er, you what?"

"The Undying Lands," Gandalf said, with a small smile, "are the lands of the Valar."

"So there _is_ another land?" Ginny asked, uncertain. "Are these Valar another race of people?"

"Yes," Gandalf agreed, still smiling, "and no. The Valar are eternal beings of great power and wisdom who used their magicks to create and shape all life on Middle Earth and even now act to guide us. They reside in the eternal realm of Valinor, which is no longer a part of Middle Earth. Only the Elves know the way to reach their lands by sailing across the sea. If any other tried it all they would discover was the ocean."

"So… you sail across the ocean but they're not actually _on_ the ocean?" Ginny asked, sounding as perplexed as Harry felt. "They're… I dunno, somewhere else? Or just an invisible city?"

"No, in another realm," Gandalf agreed, still smiling. "Although common belief would have them reside in the heavens."

Harry frowned trying to put that into something he could make sense of. "So, they're, um, like sort of angels, do you think?" he queried, looking across to Ginny for confirmation.

She pulled a face. "Possibly. Although you're probably more familiar with the idea of angels than me." At his querying look, she elaborated, "The magical world doesn't really go much into religion. Too much 'burning at the stake'."

Harry let out a short bark of laughter at that, although it was more related to the looks on the faces of both Gandalf and Aragorn than what Ginny had actually said. "True. In any case, it looks that these Valar won't be able to help us," he said eventually, sighing.

"I would not say that, young Wizard," Gandalf said, pushing aside his confusion with a chuckle. "There is little in the way of magic on Middle Earth that does not have some shade of their influence. Whatever magicks may have happened on your world to bring you here, it is no coincidence that it is at this time and in this place. You were meant to help us."

Harry hadn't been sure what to say to that. On the one hand it was beginning to sound like, once again, he was being manipulated into playing the part of a magical saviour; on the other it also meant that there were beings out there that could help him and Ginny get home.

Eventually.

Ginny it seemed had been distracting herself by searching the map. "Hey!" she said suddenly. "That's where we met you!"

Harry peered at where Ginny's finger was pointing. The word 'Fangorn' was carefully inked over the top of some small pictograms of trees. Thinking back to how they had journeyed there, Harry let his eyes wander upwards until he found another forest and another small inscription. "Dol Guldur," he read, the name familiar. He looked up at the others. "That's where you think we arrived, isn't it?"

"It makes sense," Ginny said, not giving the two a chance to respond. She squinted at the small mark. "It's quite close to the forest edge – there's no other dwelling marked." She frowned. "I thought you said that Legolas came from that forest?"

Gandalf chuckled. "And so he does," he agreed, "but elves are notoriously secretive over the exact locations of their dwellings. They are not overly fond of dwarfs or even Men."

Harry blinked. "Then why is Legolas travelling with you?"

Both Gandalf and Aragorn hesitated at that and Harry could tell he'd accidentally hit on something important. He glanced at Ginny and, judging by the sudden tension in her shoulders, he could tell that she'd picked up on it too.

Eventually Gandalf sighed. "Middle Earth is not at peace," he said. ' _No kidding,_ ' Harry thought, thinking about the orc attack in the forest and the possession of the King. "An ancient enemy has awoken once more and we were part of a fellowship of all races to fight against him."

Harry barely restrained the urge to swear out loud. "Ancient enemy?"

"His name is Sauron," Gandalf said. "Three thousand years ago he was on the verge of destroying all life on Middle Earth. A last alliance between elves and men met his army of orcs in battle and managed to defeat him, destroying his body."

"Three thousand years ago?" Ginny repeated uncertainly. "Then surely…"

"He was gone in body but his spirit has remained."

' _Holy shit._ '

It was like Harry had been hit with _petrificus totalus,_ except that instead of just freezing his muscles his mind had been paralysed as well. It was like there was nothing there but blackness and a roaring in his ears. The only thought he could process was ' _not again, not again, not again…_ '

"What is wrong?"

Aragorn's concerned voice broke through the blackness and Harry blinked, world spinning back into focus. Ginny looked just as horrified as he did, mouth opening and gaping. She just blinked at him, appalled. Harry still felt sick but swallowed, trying to gather his thoughts.

"That… that wizard we told you about," he said, "that we were fighting against… he did that. 17 years ago he was killed and there was peace." He pulled a face. "Sort of." His time at Hogwarts had never felt particularly peaceful. "But he wasn't dead. 3 years ago he got himself a new body and came back to life."

Aragorn and Gandalf exchanged looks. "You said he was defeated?" Aragorn questioned, frowning at them. "How can you be certain that he will not rise once more?"

This time it was Harry and Ginny's turn to exchange looks. She just made a tiny shrugging motion at him, indicating that it was his decision to make. In the end, Harry decided to be truthful. Horcruxes were vile, but Harry trusted Aragorn and Gandalf. Not to mention if they didn't know how this 'Sauron' did it… well, they needed the information.

"He – Voldemort – had created these objects that we call Horcruxes. They are a way of tying part of your soul to any object so if your body is destroyed your soul won't pass into the afterlife." It felt weird to be talking so openly about what had been a closely guarded secret but also strangely freeing. "We had to find and destroy all the Horcruxes before he could properly die. Maybe your Sauron has done the same?"

Surprisingly the pair looked comforted at that. "Perhaps," Gandalf said, "our magicks are not so different after all, Master Potter. Your description of these horcruxes are similar to what we know of Sauron's endeavours. It is also," he added with a heavy smile, "comforting to know that your destruction of these horcruxes resulted in the death of your enemy."

"Does that mean you know how he stayed alive?" Ginny asked tentatively.

Gandalf's smile turned to Ginny. "Fear not, young one, plans are underway to ensure that that option is no longer available to Sauron."

"Oh, good," Ginny said but Harry personally thought that that was a bit of an understatement. He didn't think he'd ever felt so relieved in his life. This new world was disorientating and hard enough without throwing another Horcrux hunt. Especially when the Sword of Gryffindor was in another world.

"That does not mean to say our struggles are at their end," Gandalf warned darkly. "Sauron is not defeated yet and is building a vast army or Orcs in Mordor." He motioned to the relevant place on the map. "From the west our ally, Saruman, has turned from us and is creating his own army of orcs. Rohan and Gondor are caught in the middle."

Maybe Harry had been too quick with his relief. "And that's why you're here," he stated, looking from one to the other. "To help fight the armies and save people."

"We cannot allow darkness to descend over Middle Earth," Aragorn said instead, which was basically a big, fat yes. "If Sauron succeeds, there will be no life, no hope left. All races will be exterminated; the few he allows to live will live as slaves and beasts. Once he reclaims his body he will be impossible to kill and will rule over darkness for eternity."

Harry blinked, not quite knowing how to feel about that. Aragorn's vision of a future if the dark side won was very similar to the futures he had imagined if Voldemort had succeeded. If it was his own world, Harry wouldn't have hesitated joining the others.

But it wasn't his world. He looked over at Ginny, feeling conflicted and tired. Their own war had only ended 3 months prior and, in that time, all Harry had done was tidy up all the mess. Now they were faced with another one and, by all accounts, one that was even worse. If Gandalf was right about these 'Valar' manipulating circumstances to bring them there…

"You honestly think we've been brought here to help you?" Ginny asked, echoing Harry's own thought.

"I think," Gandalf said gently, "that you two are very lost and that this is not your world. Whether you are meant to help us or not, it is no coincidence that we have met – we will help you as best we can."

Harry smiled at Gandalf, feeling touched. He heard the unsung addition – that most of their help would have to wait until the troubles with Sauron were over – but it didn't matter. Ignoring the short period when they were attacking each other, all four of their Middle Earth companions had gone out of their way to help them and had never asked for anything in return. It could take a long time before he would be able to figure out exactly how he felt about joining another war – especially considering the presence of Ginny and how _she_ felt about it – but they would give him that time. That was important.

"Thanks," he said, Ginny's murmur echoing him. They simply nodded with a smile and turned their attention back to studying the map.

After searching the map for a little bit longer, Gandalf and Aragorn had left to speak with the King and talk about the now-less-mysterious Isengard. Before he had left, however, Gandalf had tasked them with reading through the various scrolls and manuscripts in the library, searching for anything that could help them with figuring out how they got there. It was boring, tedious and horribly frustrating. Half of the scrolls were in a variation of different languages – Legolas, on one occasion when he passed by, identified Sindarin, one of the elvish languages. Gimli likewise identified one in a dwarvish dialect and Aragorn revealed that the most common was Rohirric, the language of Rohan – and the other half were both difficult to read, riddled with words and references to things that they didn't understand and were completely irrelevant.

And that was what they had been stuck doing, for the second day in a row. Their earlier companions popped in from time to time, although Gandalf never reappeared. For the most part, however, both of them were left to themselves. Whilst this meant they had plenty of time to discuss Sauron and the appearance of Horcruxes in Middle Earth, they still had only limited information and they quickly wore out the subject. Despite the uneasy feeling it gave him, both he and Ginny decided that they would have to wait and see before deciding whether to involve themselves or not.

So, what had that left them with?

Utter. Boredom.

It therefore came as quite a shock when the door burst open and Gimli raced in, yelling.

"Pack up, young Istari!" he shouted. "We're leaving!"

"Leaving?" Harry repeated surprised, slowly lowering his wand back to the ground. Both he and Ginny had leapt to their feet, wands raised, as Gimli crashed in. "What do you mean?"

"The riders," Gimli rumbled, excited. "They brought news of orcs attacking villagers in the west and they are heading this way. The King is evacuating his people to the fortress of Helm's Deep."

"Wouldn't they… I dunno, try and fight the orcs first?" Harry asked, surprised. From all that he had seen of Middle Earth so far, he would've thought that battling the creatures would have been their first plan of action.

"Aye, laddie, you would think that," Gimli agreed, "and so do I – and Gandalf. But Théoden does not."

"Oh," Ginny said, uncertain what to say in response. "What does Gandalf think _we_ should do? Go with them?"

Gimli coughed. "Truth be told, lass, the Wizard did not say when he left, but – "

"Whoa, wait!" Harry cried, alarmed. "Gandalf's _gone_?"

Ginny looked equally horrified. "Why didn't he come see us first?"

"Did he _forget_ us?" Harry added, feeling a strange combination of hurt, indignation and even betrayal. As their fellow wizard, Gandalf had become a symbol that they weren't completely on their own in this strange new world. For the man to just forget them…

Gimli's eyes were full of understanding. "Don't worry, lad," he said softly. "The Wizard hasn't forgotten either of you. He was just angry and wizards are never the most sensible of creatures when in a rage."

Harry sighed. He knew as well as Ginny that Gandalf had much more on his mind than two library-bound teenagers. From the sound of it, Saruman was stepping up his attacks – whatever the King had decided, a full scale battle surely couldn't be far off. He just had to push the hurt aside for now and concentrate on more important things.

"So, to Helm's Deep then?" Harry asked Ginny, smiling resignedly.

She smiled back at him. "Well, it _is_ supposed to be lovely, this time of year."

"And it has been at least three days since I walked myself to exhaustion," Harry pointed out lightly.

Gimli laughed at their antics. "Oh, fear not, young Istar," he said with a rumbling chuckle. "There was one thing that Gandalf _did_ manage to secure for the two of you before he left."

They exchanged glances. "What?" Ginny asked, curious.

"A horse."

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

As promised, a sooner chapter than usual to make up for my lack of writing the last two weeks! This was originally a bit of a short chapter, and one I found extremely hard to write, but then realised that in no part of my story had I planned a part where Harry and Ginny learn about Sauron. It kind of made its way in here and kind of expanded so this ended up being a relatively long chapter!

For all you Tolkein-ites I know that there is the 'sun-lands' and 'dark-lands' in Middle Earth but there is relatively little information out there and in reality it is most likely no one in Middle Earth is aware of their existence (except for Gandalf and some of the elves) so for the purpose of this story I am ignoring them! I also struggled with finding/creating a proper description for the Valar so sorry if that sounds awkward as well.

I know nothing much really happens, but it is necessary for the story so bear with it and thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	13. Chapter 13

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Thirteen**

The last thing Aragorn expected when he volunteered to be a part of the Fellowship was to find himself teaching two child Istari to ride a horse.

He knew, of course, that they considered themselves adults but in the world of Istari, elves, dwarves and even the Dúnedain they were still but children. And, at times, they certainly behaved like them.

Currently Harry was practicing riding their horse, whom Ginny had inexplicably named Godric. He was the better rider of the two, but not by much. Harry had mumbled something about Hippogriffs, Thestrals, broomsticks and even something that sounded suspiciously like dragons. Aragorn had blinked at that. Dragons were one creature they hadn't had time to question the two about before, but whatever world one was in, Aragorn couldn't imagine _any_ dragon letting someone ride on them.

Or what madness would drive anyone to even attempt it.

It had been two days since the King had commanded the evacuation of Edoras. In his heart Aragorn agreed with Gandalf, but was wise enough to keep his tongue for now. Gandalf's temper would not sway the King, nor aid its people. The line of Eorl was known to be a stubborn one and in truth Aragorn could not blame the man, who had been made a prisoner in his own mind and body. Retreating to Helm's Deep, a place of safety, was a way for him to control the situation and surround himself with strong barriers.

Still, he could not qualm his own misgivings. Behind him the line of stumbling men, women and children was a long one, winding their way uncertainly between the rises and falls of the plains. If the orcs caught up to them, there would be many killed. Most of their fighting men had departed with Éomer; those that remained were either inexperienced or much aged. It was likely any attack would result in many dead. He prayed anew to the Valar to protect them; they were now only a few hours from the fortress.

A peal of laughter brought his attention back to Harry, who was steering Godric through the rocks. "Careful with your grip, Harry," Aragorn called, receiving a distracted nod in reply. It seemed that whatever riding Hippogriffs, thestrals and brooms involved, they did not include the use of reigns.

" _They are learning well_ ," Legolas said softly besides him in Sindarin.

Aragorn looked across at the blonde elf with a smile. " _I am surprised,_ " he admitted, " _but it helps that they are so eager."_

" _They could be of great help in our battles against Sauron."_

" _They would,"_ Aragorn agreed, but inwardly he had his doubts. After their talk in the library several days ago he had been running parts of their tales through his mind. Ignoring the disturbing similarities between Sauron and their 'Voldemort', there were several details in their tale that caused him concerns. Unbidden, Harry's words came back to him.

" _He – Voldemort – had created these objects that we call Horcruxes. They are a way of tying part of your soul to any object so if your body is destroyed your soul won't pass into the afterlife. We had to find and destroy all the Horcruxes before he could properly die."_

How would children know such details? The secret of the ring had been restricted as best Elrond could to help protect their chances. He could not see why the Istari of their world would not practise similar caution. Yet the familiarity with which Harry spoke of them, the way he had said 'we'… The two of them had clearly been heavily involved in the struggles.

Could they really ask them to do the same for their world?

" _Are you alright, Aragorn?"_ Legolas, frowning at his friend, concerned.

" _Worry not, Legolas,"_ Aragorn reassured his friend. " _I am just saddened by the fact that we are so desperate that we lay our hopes on children._ "

Legolas looked across at Ginny, watching Harry ride with a wry grin on her face, before transferring his gaze to the wizard. " _Better that innocence is lost then all life,_ " he said solemnly.

Aragorn looked across at him, surprised. Whilst children were cared for by all races, none cherished their young as much as the elves. He found it unusual to hear his friend speak so casual of two young ones.

Legolas caught his look. " _They are not so young, friend, nor so innocent in the evils of the world,_ " he said quietly. _"Yet despite all this they remain unswayed by the darker lures of their power. Besides,"_ he added, as close to wry as Aragorn had ever seen him, " _if they decide to fight do you have the power to restrain them?"_

Aragorn laughed outright at that, placing a hand on his friends back. Legolas' words were wise and did a little to ease the worries in his heart. Not enough, not by far, but Aragorn supposed that as long as war was commonplace in Middle Earth that unease would be his constant companion.

"Whoa, Godric, wait girl, wa – ah!"

With a start, Aragorn refocused his attention over on his student. Either something had startled the horse or it was feeling mischievous. In any case the horse had broken into a sudden canter and Harry, not paying attention, had slipped sideways in his saddle and promptly fallen off.

Ginny immediately burst into laughter, which only increased in volume as Harry's shocked – and grass littered – face reappeared above a rocky outcropping. Even Legolas smiled, whilst Gimli's roars of laughter echoed off the rock. Around them the citizens of Edoras looked startled before breaking into their own smiles and soft chuckles.

Once Harry pulled himself to his feet he scowled across at his compatriot. "Love you, too, dearest!" he called, sarcastically.

Ginny just carried on laughing whilst Aragorn blinked in surprise. If Aragorn needed another reminder that the two came from such a strange world this was it. None in Middle Earth would ever throw such words around so casually, even in jest.

Harry however just rolled his eyes at her before heading off to collect Godric from where she had run off to. It didn't take long. Whatever had caused her to throw Harry off it was a temporary incident and she followed him back quite meekly.

"What happened?" Aragorn asked, trying to sound more serious than he felt. Harry's hair, whilst normally rather chaotic, was still littered with bits of grass and even the odd rock or two.

Harry frowned in thought. "I don't know what set her off," he said, "but I wasn't maintaining proper pressure with my knees. When she changed pace I was unprepared and, um, fell."

Aragorn simply nodded, inwardly very pleased with how quickly he was learning. He sent the wizard on to offer Ginny the chance to ride, after first checking that Godric was unhurt. She greeted him with a smile, saying something too soft for him to hear. Whatever it was he could tell it was in jest for Harry made a face at her though it quickly turned into a laugh. Gimli rumbled something to him as well and with a scowl Harry ran a hurried hand through his hair, dislodging the debris that had accumulated.

"Watch and learn, Potter," Ginny did say then, loud enough for Aragorn to make out, before swinging into the saddle. Despite her confident speech, her movements as she manoeuvred Godric out into the open plains were slow and hesitant. Away from the train of people however her confidence level increased and she moved about more surely. Eventually she risked a look back and smirked at Harry, who simply poked his tongue out at her. That caused another outburst of laughter.

As he watched and listened to the catcalls between the two, Aragorn belatedly realised that the two were bringing something back to the group that he hadn't even realised was missing; laughter. The lack of hobbits had hit them in more ways than one. Aragorn hadn't before recognised just how much joy and fun the four mischievous halflings had brought to their company and now he felt his spirits rise with every peal of laughter around him.

"You are a good teacher," a soft voice told him. Aragon turned to see the Lady Éowyn smiling at him. On his other side Legolas simply melted away quietly, heading forward to get a better look of their surroundings. Ignoring his enigmatic friend, Aragorn smiled at the lady.

"Thank you, my Lady," he said with a short bow. "They are good learners, if somewhat over confident at times."

"They are very old to not know how to ride," Éowyn commented and Aragorn tried not to frown at her. He knew that the people of Edoras were curious, whispering over the two strange children that had appeared with them. Gandalf had given no real story to their presence and the rest of the fellowship had followed his lead. They all knew how disastrous it could be if others learnt of the presence of two more Istari. More importantly, their age presented them as Istari who could be influenced and manipulated. In his heart of hearts Aragorn had to acknowledge that such danger didn't come solely from the forces of Sauron or Saruman. He could well imagine a man such as Lord Denethor of Gondor as seeking to twist the power of the two to serve Gondor and its interests. Boromir's early attitude was evidence of that. Still, they could not prevent nor quell the rumours and speculation that abounded throughout the court.

"They have lived a sheltered life thus far," Aragorn said eventually. It was not quite the truth but also not an outright lie. "Circumstances have brought them into our care."

Ginny had now broken into a canter, both purposefully and without falling off her horse. Gimli, laughing, said something to Harry who mock-scowled, rolling his eyes. Ginny shouted something over to him, but he just waved her off, grinning, as Gimli broke into roars of laughter once more.

"They are unlike any other people I have come across before," Éowyn said, smiling at the antics of the two. "Are they of your people?"

Aragorn smiled softly. Sheltered lives were as far removed from the lives of Dúnedain as to be imagined. "No, my Lady," he negated, eyes still following Ginny. "My people live hard lives, as rangers of the lands to the West and North."

She looked askance at him. "I would not have figured you as a ranger, Lord Aragorn," she said eventually, surprised.

"My heritage is… complicated," Aragorn agreed eventually, with a small smile. She smiled back at him, blushing slightly.

"Complicated it may be, but your arrival here saved my Uncle and for that we are indebted to you," she said softly. Despite her words, she looked sad. Aragorn could only imagine that the death of her cousin, Théodred, was still weighing on her mind. With Saruman's forces almost at their feet, none had had the proper time to grieve.

They walked on in silence for a while longer, continuing to watch and laugh at the antics of Ginny and Harry. The latter had long since brought Godric back down to a walk and was now manoeuvring between Harry and Gimli, talking with them both. Despite the odd nervous glance around them, Ginny seemed much more at home in the saddle. They were making excellent progress.

"That jewel," Éowyn said suddenly, bringing his attention back to her. Her gaze was affixed to his chest and he glanced down to see that the Evenstar was on show. "Where is the lady that gifted it to you?"

Aragorn swallowed away his own sudden surge of grief as he recalled his last meeting with Elrond and his beloved Arwen. Despite the fact that it was his own act that sent her on her journey, he still found it hard to reconcile or believe. Yet the more he saw of the devastation wrought upon the lands of Middle Earth, the more he knew that his actions were right.

Making his heart believe what his mind told him, however, was another matter entirely.

"My Lord?"

Blinking, Aragorn realised that he had failed to answer the lady's question. She was watching him both keenly and with an air of concern. "She is sailing to the Undying Lands with all that is left of her kin," he said, trying not to sound as grieved or bitter as he felt.

"Oh," Éowyn said, clearly not sure what to say. "It is a beautiful jewel."

"Thank you," Aragorn said, unconsciously gripping it with his left hand. It was far more precious than simple beauty which itself was nothing compared to the grace of the lady who bestowed it.

"Aaaah!"

The scream caused all around them to jump, Aragorn's sword in his hand almost before his mind had registered the sound. A warg had appeared over the break of the hill, launching itself at one of the King's men, Hama if he remembered correctly. He dashed forward to help but an arrow from Legolas had already pierced the skull of the beast. Hama himself shot out unnaturally from beneath the paws of the beast as it fell. He shot a look sideways and saw both Harry and Ginny were gripping their wands, looking wide-eyed at the beast.

"Wargs!" the other guard cried, looking frantic. He dismounted hurriedly, gripping his sword and looking warily around as he hurried to his prone friend. The man groaned and moved so he was not dead; nor would he be able to assist them in their fight.

"It is a scout!" Legolas cried to Aragorn, racing towards him.

He cursed. They were so close to their goal and yet it seemed a horde of Saruman's orcs were upon them. "The King must be told," he told, before mounting up in one smooth motion, racing off to Théoden at the front of their chain. There was already some disruption, the few horses they had shifting restlessely with the scent of the wargs. Luckily his own horse was well used to the foul smell of orc flesh and galloped without hesitation.

"What is it?" the King demanded as soon as Aragorn was in sight. "What do you see?"

"Wargs!" Aragorn called, pulling up his horse. "We are under attack!" The news had travelled with him, the villagers beginning to call out and the first screams of panic sounding out. "You must get them out of here!"

Théoden's own steed pranced slightly, whether out of fear or anticipation of the battle Aragorn did not know. "All riders to the head of the column!" he bellowed and soon the horses and their guards were thundering past them. The King himself rode back up the train, urging those able to fight to mount up and those that couldn't to make to Helm's Deep with all haste.

Aragorn followed in his stead, adding his own commands to hurry. His attention, however, was focussed not on the villagers but on his own charges; Harry and Ginny.

When he reached them it was to find that they had managed to load the injured Hama onto Godric, fresh white bandages tightly wrapped around his wounds. He wasn't quite sure how the two had managed that feat until he saw the slightly wide eyed looks of those around them. They had used their magic then. Well he had no time to worry about that now.

"What's going on?" Ginny demanded, as soon as she espied Aragorn.

"The party is under attack by the forces of Saruman," Aragorn said, staring down at the two of them. "You must make way to the refuge of Helm's Deep, help the villagers."

Both teenagers stared at him incredulously. "You've got to be joking," Harry said. "We're staying here to help you." Besides him Ginny vigorously nodded her head in agreement.

"It is too dangerous," Aragorn said. "You can help protect the villagers."

"They'll only need protecting if something gets past you," Ginny pointed out.

"If we can distract them long enough they'll all make it safely to Helm's Deep anyway plus we can help save a few lives," Harry added, crossing his arms and looking resolute. "You _know_ how powerful our magic can be."

As both Istari stared at him Aragorn suddenly realised with no small amount of amusement that next to them Théoden was having the exact same conversation with Éowyn. However it appeared that the King was winning his own conversation for the lady had already broken away, crying out to the villagers to make for the lower ground. She shot a quizzical look towards Aragorn and the two teenagers but Aragorn shook his head slightly. The King might have won his argument but Aragorn would not. As Legolas had said only minutes earlier, he did not possess the power to stop either of the Istari from joining in battle if they wished it.

As Éowyn and the other villagers ran past them, Aragorn refrained a curse, wheeling his horse around. "You cannot show mercy to these creatures," he reminded them and their faces brightened with relief that he had decided not to argue with them further. "Remember the forest – and if you are in danger do not tarry. You must leave immediately – do your apparation trick. The two of you are more important than you can imagine."

They blinked a little at that but then both swallowed, looking nervous. "We're ready," Ginny said, determination overlaying the nervousness.

There was a scream from up ahead and all three whirled, Aragorn's sword raised whilst the other two gripped their wands tightly. The attack had begun.

Aragorn had no more words to spare them. Instead he just sent up another prayer to keep them safe. Then he kicked his horse into a gallop, knowing the two would follow in their own magical way but he had no time to check.

Battle was upon them.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

So obviously the bit of a dialogue you recognise is from the film, albeit changed slightly. I'm also ignoring the extended edition part where Aragorn and Éowyn talk about Aragorn's people earlier on. I've also repositioned people because why not.

In any case, battle is coming for Harry and Ginny – let's see how they'll do next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	14. Chapter 14

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Fourteen**

Battle in Middle Earth was nothing like she imagined.

Whilst in her head Ginny knew that a fight between humans and orcs would look nothing like the magical battles she'd experienced at Hogwarts, she had no other experience to base her expectations on. The small skirmish in the wood of Fangorn had been one thing… this was something else entirely.

As Aragorn and the other riders had galloped over the crescent of the hill, Harry and Ginny barely glanced at each other before disapparating and appearing just before the rise, hidden from the view of the other side. As they scrambled to the top Ginny felt her mouth drop open.

Thirty-odd horsemen raced forwards, yelling and calling, swords brandishing in the air. Racing towards them were large dog like creatures, heads massively disproportionate to their bodies and all snarling, blood caked teeth; the oddly named 'warts' that Aragorn had spoken of.

So appalled had she been by the warts it took a moment for Ginny to notice their dark riders. Orcs, just as they had seen in Fangorn, snarled in a manner similar to their mounts, brandishing their own ugly swords and axes. She swallowed. No, this was nothing like wizarding battles at all.

Then suddenly the two sides weren't apart – they were joined, crashing into each other. Swords swung, arrows flew… one orc jolted backwards, impaled by a spear taller than her. Then a horseman was down, his horse screaming as it took an arrow.

Pressure on her arm made her glance over to see Harry's hand on her, looking at her carefully. "You don't have to do this," he said as quietly as he could with the battle raging in front of them.

"Neither do you," Ginny pointed out, a little forcefully. She was angry because he was trying to protect her – again – but also because a part of her (most of her) wanted to agree. It was horrible.

But she could help.

Twisting out of Harry's grip, Ginny felt the now-familiar squeeze of disapparation as Harry's surprised face was replaced by the sight of battle.

Wizarding battle may have been equally intense, Ginny reflected grimly a short while later, but it was also cleaner. At least, that's the thought that came to her mind as a severed orc head tumbled past her. The rider who'd decapitated it simply rode on to attack his next target and she, taking a deep breath, twisted to a new location as well.

When she had first disapparated it had been to be greeted by the sight of a wart, about to launch itself at a bowman. The crack she made on reappearing was loud, even over the sounds of battle, and the orc riding the wart turned around, with a screech of surprise.

She didn't give him time to register her appearance. " _STUPEFY!_ " she snapped, the red light smacking into him. She shot off another at the wart it had been riding but it didn't so much as blink. She fired off another two hurriedly before the beast fell and even then it took an arrow before it was properly down. Ginny swallowed, remembering what the others had told them in the wood and Aragorn had reiterated just before; it was no time for mercy.

It was hard, however, to make that switch. The first spell that came to her lips when startled was _stupefy_. Whilst it downed the orcs, it was only a temporary fix. She had _seen_ how quickly they could recover in Fangorn but she still struggled initially with casting more lethal spells. One thing that did help was the fact that everything she could see about the orcs only further cemented the fact that they could not be reasoned with. What had Gandalf said? Something about the orcs being bred by the 'deepest, darkest and blackest of arts' and being driven by rage, anger and bloodlust. Well, after this battle _that_ was something she could totally believe.

Surprisingly Harry, usually so ridiculously noble, had come to that conclusion quicker than she. That of course might have had something to do with the wart that came charging upon her whilst she deflected an orc arrow with a quick blast of her wand. The beast got within licking distance before Harry had shot it – and it's rider – with an overpowered _reducto_. Whilst Ginny appreciated the save, she didn't appreciate the splatter of gore that immediately followed. Only a rapid _scourgify_ stopped her from being sick right there and then but it was a close call. She took a deep breath and pushed all thoughts away. She could afford to freak out later, but not right now.

She did, however, cast an _impervious_ over her clothes after that.

Swallowing, Ginny apparated to one of the smaller fights, the loud crack lost in the yells of both combatants. Steeling herself, she barked out a summoning charm, causing the Rohan fighter to jerk out of the path of the orc's axe. Before the creature had even time to gaze at her in shock he was hit by her second spell; a bat-bogey hex.

The creature quickly begun screaming, clawing at its nose in pained bewilderment. The warrior she had saved swore violently at the sight of great black bogies forcing their way out of what passed for the creatures nose, before sprouting bat-like wings and swooping on the orc in an aerial attack.

"Well, don't just stand there!" she snapped at the soldier, who jerked in surprise. He quickly refreshed his grip on his own sword and lurched forward, but not before shooting her a mystified and slightly scared look. Ginny disapparated before she could witness what came next. She couldn't face it – not yet, and not if she wanted to keep on helping.

After that Ginny fell into a rhythm of sorts. Whilst she couldn't quite muster herself to use blasting hexes directly on the creatures, she became proficient at using a combination of other spells to either distract them or cause them to be incapacitated. She apparated out before she could see the full results of her efforts, continuously supressing her nausea that wasn't entirely to do with the constant apparation.

Crack! Appear in front of a lone wart and cast _glisseo_ to see it slip and slide towards the edge of the cliff. Crack! Dissapparate out and cast _expelliarmus_ to disarm an orc approaching an injured solider. A banishing charm quickly followed, blasting the figure back into the rock face with a horrifyingly loud crunch that could be heard even over the sound of battle. Crack! A severing charm maims one of the wart-rider pairs, causing it to crash mid charge, right into a waiting spear. Crack!

It began to blur. At the start she had been vaguely aware of the startled calls and yells of the Rohan warriors but as the battle wore on they had diminished. Her tired mind was too busy to work out whether that was because they were getting used to her and Harry's apparation or whether she had become deaf to the sounds of anything but the immediate battle.

Another snarl, another spell leaving her lips. ' _Merlin, this is exhausting_.'

Time, it seemed however, was on her side. The battle was slowing down. Few pairs were actively engaged in fighting any more. A couple of the wart-orc pairs had turned about face to retreat. Someone - the King? – yelled something and Legolas, distinctive even through the battle haze with his graceful movement and blonde hair, raced to the top of a hill. An arrow flew out and she saw one of the distant figures fall. Before Legolas could send another arrow however there was a crack and a quick whoosh before the horizon was all aflame. Ginny swallowed, feeling sick again. Harry had used _incendio_.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Harry appeared next to her with a crack. She was too exhausted to even jump. It seemed that slowing down and stopping had _not_ been the best idea. Harry must have been just as tired – he certainly _looked_ as awful as she felt – but he didn't collapse besides her, still searching the horizon.

"Are you alright?" she started to ask, but Harry suddenly stiffened, eyes focussed on something to their right. She squinted and saw a wart running off the side of a cliff. At first she didn't understand his concern – between the two of them they'd certainly pushed their fair share of the things off the cliff during the battle – but that was before she espied the figure strapped to the side.

"Aragorn!"

Before the cry had left her lips Harry was gone. Whipping her head around at the sound she quickly focussed her attention back to the wart but it was too late. He'd appeared on it just as it tumbled off the edge.

"Harry!"

"What is it, Ginny?"

Legolas' voice made her twist back in surprise, even as she had started running to the cliff edge. "It's –" she gasped, not sure what she was going to say, before there was another crack.

Harry, clutching a rather bloody looking Aragorn, slammed into the ground. For a split second both she and Legolas stared at the pair. Then Aragorn groaned, stirring, and Ginny broke into a relieved laugh. Harry barely managed to sit up before he found himself yanked upwards by Ginny to be treated to the biggest kiss she could manage.

When they broke apart Harry had gone bright red and looked slightly dazed, although that might have something to do with slamming his head into the ground seconds prior.

"Don't you _ever_ do that to me again, Harry James Potter!" she snapped, before kissing him again and grabbing him into a hug. Face buried in his shoulder, she felt herself begin to crumple. Merlin, but that had been terrifying. She wasn't just talking about Harry falling off a cliff. That battle, the blood, the violence; that was what life on Middle Earth was like, wasn't it? She shuddered, trying to repress the tears. Once she gave into them she knew she wouldn't be able to stop and now was _not_ the time.

When they finally pulled apart it was to find a rather red faced elf and ranger staring at them. Legolas was actually spluttering, whilst Aragorn was trying not to laugh. Ginny felt herself going red then; she'd forgotten that views on relationships in Middle Earth were likely to be conservative.

Extremely. Conservative.

Harry just shot her a sheepish grin and grasped one of her hands in his. She felt comforted to realise that he was shaking slightly too. At least it wasn't just her that felt the horror of what they'd both just done.

"I, uh, thank you, Harry," Aragorn said eventually, inclining his head at Harry. "Although I have yet to decide if falling off the cliff would have been less uncomfortable and painful than experiencing your apparation."

Harry's look turned even more sheepish and despite herself Ginny felt herself give a snort of laughter at that. "Yeah… apparation isn't the most _comfortable_ of experiences," he agreed, gripping her hand tightly.

"Yet despite its discomforts you did not hesitate to use it to assist us," Aragorn pointed out with a soft smile. "Mine is not the only life you have saved. Either of you."

Ginny swallowed and tried a shaky smile. Whilst it was true, whether directly or indirectly she and Harry were also responsible for the taking of many lives. It still did not matter what she had been told time and time again about orcs. They were still living creatures and she had…

 _Merlin_ …

Gentle hands were around her shoulders as she finished throwing up what little food she'd eaten that day. As her heaves turned into shudders, tears flowing down her face, she realised that the hands around her did not belong to Harry. Rather they belonged to Legolas, he watching her with a serene but understanding expression.

Harry was too busy vomiting up the contents of his own stomach.

"Sorry," she muttered eventually, getting her tears under control. A quick flick of her wand created a spurt of fresh clean water to wash out her mouth which helped considerably.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Istar," he told her, stepping back. "Truly, battle is a horrendous thing."

"I've seen battle before," Ginny admitted, looking down. Her hands were shaking and she swallowed again, lest she start crying once more. "It's just…"

"It's nothing like that," Harry's voiced croaked from besides her. He didn't look like he'd been crying like she had but he certainly looked pale and shaky. "Not so much blood."

"Or death," Ginny murmured slightly in agreement. "And not death like… like…" She stopped. Merlin, what must they think of the two of them, breaking down like this? And when they'd been so eager to join in too. She almost laughed at that and found herself biting her tongue. Now was not the time for hysterics.

"All who enter battle face this fight," Aragorn said, his voice gentle. "If you do not feel remorse at the death then you have become the very thing that you face. You should try not to dwell on those that have been lost; instead, focussed on those you have _saved_."

Ginny looked up at him at that, taking a deep breath. It hadn't solved the problem – she could still feel those feelings, those deaths, eating away at her insides – but it was enough to get her moving again. Harry looked less convinced but Ginny reminded herself that he had been using more direct spells than her. That incendio, for instance… she looked away from him, unable to repress her shudder of revulsion.

"Isn't anyone going to help me OUT?"

All four companions jumped at that. "Gimli?" Harry asked, surprised and searching around for the missing dwarf.

"Over here, laddie!" the dwarf's irate shout came and belatedly Ginny saw something moving from beneath a pile of wart bodies. Despite the situation she let out a snort of laughter. It looked as though the dwarf had gotten well and truly stuck.

She was not the only one to let out a laugh. With a quickly squashed chuckle Harry ran off to aid the trapped dwarf, wand at the ready. Ginny let him go, sensing that he needed something to distract him. As the familiar incantation of _wingardium leviosa_ carried across on the air she felt the stares of the other two on her again.

"Are you sure you are well, Ginny?" Legolas asked, concerned.

"No," Ginny said honestly. To avoid meeting their gaze she concentrated on vanishing the small piles of vomit she and Harry had left. "Like Harry said, battle with us is… _different_. We just need to get – get used to it. Only…"

"You are not sure you want to?"

She sighed, staring at the rocks. "Yes," she admitted, feeling shamed.

"There is no shame in such thoughts," Aragorn said firmly, hand reaching out to grip Ginny's arm. She looked up, startled. Had he read her mind? "To feel revulsion in death… it is in your nature, yours and Harry's more than most others I would say," he added. "As Gandalf told you, our battles are not yours. At Helm's Deep you will be safe, behind walls that no army has ever breached. Our battles with Saruman, with Sauron, are our own. We will ask nothing more of you, or Harry, should you wish it. On that you have my word."

Ginny was processing that thought as Harry clambered up to them, accompanied by a slightly squashed looking Gimli. Despite being almost smothered to death by several large wart bodies Gimli looked remarkably chipper. "Excellent battle," he said roughly, gripping his rather bloodied axe. "No orc can fight their way past _my_ axe! Although," he said thoughtfully before Legolas could respond, "I must admit that having you Istari on our side certainly helped make short work of the beasts! We could do with keeping you around."

Ginny swallowed and was smiling uneasily at Gimli when there was a clatter of hooves as the King rode up to them. "I must admit, Aragorn," he called, with a laugh, "that I thought the presence of Gandalf's two wards a most peculiar one, even for a wizard such as he. But I see now the reason for his reticence – two Istari!" His smile turned grim then. "Saruman will certainly rue the day he set his sights on Rohan with two such as these on our side."

Ginny exchanged slightly panicky looks with Aragorn at that. The man simply shot her a 'calm' gesture and she settled for smiling uncertainly up at the King, much in the same way she had been smiling at the over eager Gimli. Harry looked just as uncomfortable, but was attempting to smile at Théoden too. "We're, um, glad we could help, your Majesty," he said, stumbling.

Théoden looked at him askance. "Your Majesty?" he repeated confused. Obviously that wasn't a phrase they used here.

"The Istari are from a distant part of Middle Earth, my Lord," Aragorn said smoothly. "Their ways are different to ours – they need some time to adjust."

"And time they shall have," Théoden agreed whole-heartedly. "Saruman's forces will not be quick to attack us again after that display and even if he should try we have the walls of Helm's Deep and the magic of the Istari to protect us."

"Erm… right," Harry said, shooting her a wide eyed look. She just made a face at him. "Sure."

"We should get going, my Lord," one of the other horseman said as he rode up to the King. "Soon it will be nightfall and Saruman may have sent more parties out."

"Much good it will do him," Théoden said with a laugh but quickly agreed, setting off to call orders to the men.

"Well, this is going to be fun," Harry hissed to Ginny as he watched the others prepare to leave. It seemed he hadn't missed the occasional wide-eyed stare the other men were sending them either.

"Yep. Lots of fun," Ginny agreed, swallowing down more bile. She looked to Aragorn for reassurance who simply smiled at her.

"Come, you two," he said, sweeping them forward with his arms, "it is still a long ride to Helm's Deep."

"Oh… erm, we don't have Godric," Harry remembered suddenly. He glanced at Aragorn. "I suppose it is too far to walk?"

"Can you not simply apparate there?" Gimli asked, curious. Legolas had disappeared to call their horse from where it had wandered. "It is very close, after all?"

Both of them shook their head. "It doesn't matter how far away something is," Ginny said, "if we've never been there we can't really picture it in our head so we'll splinch." She knew that in practice apparation worked perfectly well using a map but she was still new to it and definitely didn't feel up to putting it in practice. Not to mention all the apparation she'd already done that afternoon had knocked her concentration levels considerably.

"You cannot walk," Aragorn said firmly. "It is too far and you are both exhausted. Wait here." And he ran off to the throng of soldiers all reclaiming their mounts.

"Well, that was an awful experience," Harry suddenly said in the silence.

Ginny looked at him sideways. In the past she had always chafed at how others insisted she stay away from danger. Her parents, her brothers, even Harry… Idly she wondered what her mother would say if she knew the extent of danger and battle Ginny had just been exposed to. She would probably have a heart attack. If she had _seen_ it… would she have thought any differently of her? Of Harry?

"First battles always are, lad," Gimli said gruffly. He was leaning on his axe and staring up at the two of them.

Ginny hesitated before asking him what his first battle had been like. Gimli looked thoughtful for a moment before answering her.

"I were but a wee bairn, barely a hint of beard on my face," he rumbled, eyes focussing on something other than what was in front of him. "Orcs had been sighted south of the Lonely Mountain, which is not an uncommon occurrence. Trouble – be it elf-kind or of a more sinister nature – always comes from the direction of Mirkwood."

By now Ginny was more than a little lost, although she recognised the name of Mirkwood as the forest Dol Guldur had been in. She shook her head at Harry though when he looked like he wanted to interrupt; she wanted to hear his tale.

"Smaug had been dead but a year and the Kingdom of Erebor was filled with dwarf-kind once more, but still did evil try to reclaim the Mountain for themselves. Despite nearing my seventieth birthday – "

Harry choked, but Ginny just glared at him, motioning at Gimli to go on. Inwardly she was surprised. She hadn't thought dwarves lived much longer than humans but obviously something had been missed in their earlier conversation if _seventy_ was considered a 'wee bairn'!

" – I had yet to be permitted out on an orc hunt," Gimli continued, eyes glimmering in remembrance. "Ah, lass, it were a glorious thing, to ride out to your enemy and mete out death. I remember the first orc I killed; great, snarling beast, near two times the size of me and black with filth and blood. He laughed at me but he soon realised this was one dwarf that had bite!

"He raised his great sword and swung but I was too quick! I ducked under his fearsome sword and sliced at his legs. He twisted to the side and reversed his sword. Again he met only air for I had evaded his blade and instead struck out at his arm. The foul creature was not fast enough and my axe sliced his arm. The surprise on his face had not died before I removed his head from his body! Ah, my first kill – such glory to be had."

Gimli paused and cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Unfortunately I was so thrilled with my victory that I failed to see the orc's legs had fallen in front of me. I tripped and spent the rest of the fight stuck face down halfway in a hole in the ground."

There was a pause before both she and Harry let out a peal of surprised laughter. Gimli's eyes glittered with amusement as he watched them. "You mustn't tell the elf, though," he told them, even as Legolas and Aragorn approached.

"Promise," Harry said, grinning, even as Ginny rolled her eyes good humouredly. The friendship of Legolas and Gimli was definitely a weird one.

"Something amusing?" Aragorn enquired, arching an eyebrow. Legolas likewise shot them a slightly suspicious look even as he pulled his horse around so Gimli could mount it.

"No, nothing at all," Ginny said completely innocently. "Have you had any luck with finding us a horse?"

"Unfortunately – or fortunately, as the case may be – we have lost very few riders or horses in battle," Aragorn said, shifting his hold on his own horse. Ginny could read the subtext – there were no spare horses for her or Harry. Just great. Aragorn caught the glum look she and Harry shared for he started laughing. "Do not fear, young ones," he admonished them, "we shall not leave you to trudge behind! Ginny you may ride double with me."

She smiled at him, not quite wanting to admit how relieved she felt at that. Between the stress of the battle and her body rejecting the little food she'd had she wasn't sure how far she'd get on her own two legs. "Thanks."

"What about me?" Harry asked.

"A great honour, Harry," Aragorn told him, his eyes only betraying a hint of mischievousness. "King Théoden himself has offered to carry you on his steed."

"You what?" Harry said, staring at Aragorn incredulously. "Seriously? The _King_?" Even Ginny was taken aback at that one.

"You seem surprised."

"Well, of course I'm – I mean he's the _King_ ," Harry spluttered, looking slightly nervous. "What does he want to talk to _me_ for?"

"I may be wrong, laddie," Gimli called to them, "but it probably has something to do with the impressive magicks you and your lady just displayed."

"…oh." Harry and Ginny exchanged glances, Harry looking at her with weary resignation. Ginny might not have the same experience as Harry but even she could recognise the signals. Here was another powerful figure trying to work out how he could use Harry – and now Ginny – to their best advantage.

But there was hope. Middle Earth was a rougher land than their own, true, but with its roughness it also seemed to have lost a lot of the political underhandedness and back stabbing. All of Ginny's experiences with Théoden had been at a distance so far but he seemed like a very honest, _decent_ sort of King. Certainly Aragorn respected him and that held a lot of weight with her.

"It'll be fine, Harry," she murmured to him softly. "He can't be any worse than Fudge – in fact, he'll be a hell of a lot better."

Harry's face brightened. "Good point," he told her, straightening up. "And I can always confound and _obliviate_ him if it gets uncomfortable."

She stared at him, not sure whether she should be appalled or not, before she caught the hint of a smile around his lips. "Git!" she laughed, whacking him playfully around the shoulders even as he dodged out the way.

"Ow! You know, I'm your only friend in Middle Earth – you shouldn't mistreat me so," he told her, sounding wounded. The effect was somewhat ruined when he flicked his wand at her and her face was full of water.

"POTTER!"

"Told you I'd get you back for that one day!" he called over his shoulder, running away from her as fast as he could manage. As Ginny spluttered and tried to clear her eyes all she could hear was the surprised laughs of the others. As her eyes cleared enough to see properly the first thing she did was give them an evil glare. Both Legolas and Aragorn felt guilty enough that they stopped laughing straight away but Gimli just carried on.

"Euch, dwarves."

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Wow… another chapter that got away from me! Definitely the aftermath wasn't going to be as long as it turned out but the more I wrote the more I felt that Harry and Ginny would _not_ be ok with everything they've just done and I couldn't just pass it off as lightly as I'd intended. I know a lot of you are expecting them to launch into shooting off blasting curses and sectumsempra left right and centre. Harry has never knowingly killed someone before – he simply isn't built that way, neither of them are. No matter what everyone tells them, they won't suddenly switch to happily killing orcs and wargs out right. There will be some adjusting time for both of them and they will _always_ be unhappy with it. Blood thirsty individuals amongst you will have to wait!

Also for Gimli for ease purposes I am simply assuming that he was never out on a hunting party prior to the events of the Hobbit and doesn't do so until after the end, when the dwarves are settled in Erebor under Dain Ironfoot.

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	15. Chapter 15

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Fifteen**

The adrenaline was _definitely_ wearing off.

As the horses thundered across the ground, Harry could feel himself start to shake and it was nothing to do with the galloping. He gritted his teeth and tried to focus on the… well, 'path' wasn't really correct, but he had to focus on _something_ or his feelings of horror and self-revulsion were going to swamp him completely. Again.

Before coming to Middle Earth Harry had heard and seen plenty of horrible things, not to mention experiencing them. Nothing got much worse than being held under the cruciatus curse, being poisoned by basilisk venom, almost getting his soul sucked out of him or watching a loved one die.

Or so he thought.

Truly, this world was a brutal one. Despite Aragorn's warnings, Harry had started using stunners at first. Even after all he'd been through, _expelliarmus_ and _stupefy_ were the first curses on his lips. He'd quickly realised that they weren't strong enough, however, and when that warg had come close to killing Ginny…

After that the battle was a whirl of apparation and curses. _Reducto_ was now his go-to spell and he even broke out borderline dark curses, hurling out _sectumsempras_ left right and centre. It mollified him somewhat when he saw the orc's single mindedness for violence and brutality but he still felt like a monster.

Ginny certainly had looked at him like he was one, when he'd apparated back to her following that _incendio_. He swallowed back bile at the resurgence of memory – sight, sound, even the awful smell – arms clenching uselessly in the air. He had nothing to grip onto.

"Are you alright, Master Wizard?"

Harry jerked at the voice behind him. Lost in his self-loathing he'd almost forgotten that he rode with the King. Belatedly he realised that Théoden had been trying to talk to him before that but he hadn't heard him.

"Erm, yes, yes, fine, thanks." Harry winced at his awkward response. Truth was, though, apart from when Gandalf had freed him from his curse, Harry had never really _seen_ the King before today, let alone _talked_ to him. And, as Gimli had said, Théoden's sudden desire for conversation could surely only have come from finding out he was a powerful wizard. How could the King ever understand how they both felt about battle?

"You saved many a life today, Istar," the King said, almost as though he knew what Harry was thinking. "The might of Saruman is great and terrible. If you – and the… _lady_ wizard – were not with us, many more of my people would have fallen. That is no small feat."

Harry cracked a smile as Théoden stumbled over how to address Ginny. He had heard Théoden's sentiments before; from Aragorn, namely, as he puked his guts out over what he'd just done. It didn't make his reality any easier to take in. He, Harry, had now killed someone. Several someones. On purpose. The fact that that person in question was not quite a person and would happily hack him to bits didn't do much to remedy his guilt. Was he now a murderer?

' _It's war, though,_ ' he thought to himself, once again lost in his thoughts. ' _It was defence. Wasn't it?_ '

Honestly, Harry didn't know how he felt. Voldemort killed people all the time but that was for fun, enjoyment. That was what ripped his soul apart, after all.

' _Wait a minute: do I still have_ my _soul?_ ' Harry thought suddenly, beginning to panic. Murder was how one split the soul, after all; it was how _he_ had done it. Was Harry's soul still intact? Was _Ginny's_?

"You should not feel remorse over the death of orcs, Istar." Once again, Théoden's voice cut through his speculation. Belatedly, Harry realised that he was close to hyperventilating which, whilst better than throwing up all over the King and his horse, was still embarrassing. "Given the chance they would cut you down, rip you to pieces and eat your flesh. They are creatures of pure evil. The only good orc is a dead one."

As Harry processed that he realised that Théoden's tone was surprised; surprised no doubt that one who so easily dealt out death was having a panic attack on his horse about the number of orcs – _people?_ – he'd killed.

"Ginny and I we… we're not used to this," was all Harry said lamely in response. "It's… not easy."

"Battle never is," Théoden agreed, "but doing what is _right_ over what is _easy_ … well, that is the real challenge we must face in these dark times, when _all_ our strengths are being tested. And we are choosing to do what is _right_ for our people."

Harry started, echoes of another speech about 'right' and 'easy' running through his mind. It was somewhat ironic that Dumbledore had originally used that to condemn the taking of a life and here Théoden was, using it to justify the taking of them.

"Whilst evil roams the lands there will always be death," Théoden continued. "We have to fight back and destroy the darkness before it can destroy us."

"I mean, I _know_ you're right," Harry said, uncomfortably. "I'm used to, uh, _fighting evil_ and darkness and all that _._ I'm just not used to, you know, _killing_ it. Well, not purposefully," he amended.

Harry could almost _feel_ Théoden's quizzical scare. "I have never before met a wizard who did not mete out death to all evil who crossed his path before."

"Well, now you have," Harry said, still uncomfortable.

There was a pause in the conversation, broken only by the thundering of the hooves beneath them and the wind as they raced by. Two good things had definitely come out of his awkward conversation with the King though.

One; he'd clearly impressed upon the King that he could not use him or Ginny as mindless killing machines.

Two; Harry was no longer afraid that his soul was rendered in two. What was it they had spoken about, all those months ago?

" _Isn't there any way of putting yourself back together?" Ron asked._

" _Yes," Hermione said, with a hollow smile, "but it would be excruciatingly painful."_

" _Why? How do you do it?" Harry asked._

" _Remorse," Hermione said. "You've got to really_ feel _what you've done."_

Théoden had used the word remorse earlier on and it triggered that little bit of memory. Harry felt remorse over those deaths – of course he did. He would probably always feel guilty that there was no other way to stop them – that this loss of life had to happen. That guilt – that _remorse_ – was what would help him keep his humanity. And his soul.

Harry suddenly became aware that something in their journey had changed. Blinking himself out of his thoughts he gasped. "Is that – is that Helm's Deep?"

"Yes, young Istar, that it is," the King confirmed, and Harry could almost feel the man's pride. Not that Harry could blame him.

"Aragorn says that you've held out against tons of sieges in this place before," Harry commented and he could see why. _This_ was more like what he had expected when visiting a medieval kingdom. True, Hogwarts was still more magnificent, but it was built as a place of wonder and of learning. It was never built to withstand a true battle or war.

Helms Deep certainly was.

Nestled up as close to the mountain as it could, the main keep was a large circular building. As far as Harry could tell it seemed to be comprised of several layers, each set a little higher than the last. All of them looked reassuringly solid and thick. A similarly strong looking wall stretched out sideways from the keep to the cliffs, locking out any potential intruders. It was definitely the most impressive looking building Harry had seen since arriving on Middle Earth (although not much of a competition).

"Helm's Deep has never fallen to the blades of our enemies," Théoden agreed proudly. On the walls Harry could see movement as the guards set about raising the gate. "Let Saruman send all he can at us – the people of Rohan will prevail."

As the company thundered up the bridge, however, and the gates closed behind them Harry couldn't help but think that this felt like a tomb.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Éowyn walked among the refugees of Rohan and tried not to let her dismay show on her face. Part of her was aghast at how many there were, huddled together, faces pinched and gaunt. There must be people from nearly every town and village in the land, seeking the protection of the fortress' great walls.

Another part of her was aghast at how _few_ there were. If these were indeed people from all corners of the Kingdom then their losses at the hand of Saruman were too great to even bear thinking of. Unconsciously she shivered, remembering the fear she had spoken to Aragorn of; being caged and trapped. Meant as their protection, suddenly the great thick fortifications of the Deep felt like the walls of a prison.

Yet even in the midst of such misery, some happiness was to be found.

"Mama! MAMA!"

Freda, the young girl who had travelled with her brother to warn the King of Saruman's attacks, suddenly yanked free of Éowyn's grasp, stumbling forward. A woman stumbled to her feet, looking as though she couldn't believe her eyes. "Freda? Éothain!"

Barely had the words escaped her lips when Freda leapt into her arms, shortly followed by Éothain's tight grasp. The three sank to the floor, crying, laughing and hugging. Éowyn watched them, a forlorn smile tugging at her grips. The two children had shown much bravery in managing to reach Edoras on their own; they deserved a bit of happiness.

For herself, however, Éowyn only felt sadness. Her beloved cousin was dead, her brother banished from the lands he protected so fiercely and now she was locked away, alone, in this cold fortress.

"It's the King!"

"Make way for the King!"

Éowyn's head shot upwards, seeing the activity on the walls. The men had returned! Without meaning to, her heart leapt slightly as her thoughts drifted to one of their number. Maybe she wouldn't be completely alone in this place after all.

Grasping the train of her dress she made her way to the front of the Keep as quickly as possible. Manoeuvring around various guards and refugees, she arrived just in time to see almost the entire company of men and horses that had been left behind canter through the gates.

"So few! So few have been lost!" she gasped, staring. She knew that the men of Rohan were fierce warriors, but to lose but a handful of men in a fight with wargs and orcs… it was almost unheard of.

The King laughed at her stymied expression, dismounting smoothly from his horse. Calling her attention to him only made her stare all the more for the strange boy – Harry – was sharing her uncle's horse! What madness was this? As far as she knew the King had never spoken a single word to either of the pair and now one of them was riding double with him?

"Indeed, niece!" the King agreed with her exclamation, smiling. "We have shown Saruman that the people of Rohan have fight in them still. Thanks to the powerful magicks of our young Istari friends, every single foul orc and warg were destroyed. Our people are safe and the foul wizard will think twice about attacking the Deep!"

Éowyn blinked at him, her mind stuck on one thing. "Ist – Istari?" she repeated, astonished.

Théoden only laughed. "Great wizards, indeed," he confirmed, motioning towards his horse.

No… not his _horse_. "The children?!" Éowyn gasped, as Harry, face bright red, slid off Théoden's steed. "They are Istari?"

Harry's expression turned into a scowl. "We're not children," he muttered, arms crossed. "And we're not… it's complicated." The girl – Ginny, Éowyn remembered her name was – came up to join her friend, face equally severe.

The King and his men, however, paid no mind to the feelings of the unusual pair. "Istari, indeed!" the King laughed, even as his men suddenly started calling out every bit of magic they had seen all at once.

" – conjured fire out of thin air and – "

" – orc flew backwards into a rock just as – "

" – then the warg slipped and – "

" – with nothing but a crack they appeared and then – "

As the men called out their deeds, the two Istari in question grew redder and redder. The scowl on Ginny's scowl grew ever deeper, whilst Harry simply looked resigned. Éowyn herself could not stop gaping at the two of them. They had seemed so young and innocent – they did not seem to know how to do anything, even ride a horse! Yet here they were, being attributed such incredible magicks of which she had never before heard the like.

"Enough!"

The men fell silent at once. It was not Théoden who had spoken, however, but Aragorn. He had come up behind the two teenagers, placing a hand on either shoulder. Both of them looked up to him, grateful. They were quickly ringed by Gimli and Legolas, all of them looking stern if not a little fierce.

"Yes, Harry and Ginny have magicks, just like the Istari and they have done us all a great favour, saving many lives and helping us to destroy our enemies," Aragorn said, in his calm and stern manner. "Like any of us after facing battle, however, they require rest. Whatever the outcome was, we have won but a mere skirmish. Saruman will not stop with just this one small force; we know not what else Saruman will send to test our mettle nor how long we will have to remain inside the Keep. Let us now turn our thoughts and actions to our own and preparing the Keep for war."

There was a pause and then Théoden laughed once more. "Well said, Aragorn, well said." He turned back to the men and began ordering them to different posts. Éowyn didn't watch them; instead her attention was riveted to the two children-turned-Istari.

"So the two of you are Istari?" Éowyn repeated her question, once most of the commotion had died down.

Ginny scowled and opened her mouth but Harry placed an arm on hers, stopping her. "Yes, my Lady," he said quietly, "sort of."

Éowyn cocked an eyebrow at Aragorn as he reappeared behind the two, having handed his horse off. Legolas and Gimli had left with the King, to discuss the keep's defences. "'Sheltered lives', Lord Aragorn? From what the men and my uncle have said, it seems as though they alone were responsible for the victory."

"Woah, woah, no, definitely not!" Harry protested whilst Ginny nodded vigorously.

"We just, you know, helped. A bit."

Aragorn laughed and clapped them both on the shoulders. "A lot," he corrected, smiling at them. "And, my Lady, I had not lied earlier; they _have_ lived sheltered lives."

"Just sheltered lives where we come from happen to include learning lots of spells," Ginny said with a grin.

"Well, I am sure we all in Helm's Deep are grateful to you," Éowyn said with a smile, "for bringing our loved ones back to us." Her gaze flickered over to Aragorn before coming back to rest on the pair.

Harry just shrugged awkwardly whilst Ginny smiled at her. "It was the least we could do."

"Would – would you like a tour of the keep?" Éowyn asked after another pause. The two shot relieved smiles at her as they nodded. "And you, Lord Aragorn?"

He smiled but shook his head. "I thank you, but no, Lady Éowyn," he said. "I know my way around – I must go to the King and the others to see about defences." His smile dropped to a frown. "If I know Saruman, it will not be long before he sends another force to harry us all."

With a short nod, he backed away and disappeared up the steps. Éowyn watched him go with a frown. Aside from her disappointment at his absence there was also a strangeness there. The only time in her lifetime that Helm's Deep had been used for refuge had been ten years prior and Lord Aragorn had _definitely_ not been there. He did not seem much older than she so when, exactly, had he the opportunity to become so familiar with the keep?

"Erm, shall we go then?"

Éowyn blinked and fell out of her thoughts to see the two Istari staring at her quizzically. She smiled at them. "Apologies, Istari; please, follow me."

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

"Do you think it's safe to go out yet?"

Harry popped his head out around the corner of the rock. "There's no one around," he whispered back to Ginny, pulling his head back in. "That notice-me-not must be working."

"Good," Ginny said with feeling, sagging back against the stone wall.

The two of them were currently hiding from the world behind a small notch in the wall. Not that he would admit it if anyone asked him. To them they were simply taking a moment, resting, regaining their strength… out of sight from every other living being in Helm's Deep.

"We need to give it a few hours," Harry replied, "let everyone focus on other things. Then it'll be fine."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. "Has that ever helped you in the past?"

"No," Harry admitted with a sigh. "In fact, it usually makes the rumours even worse. Of course," he added, "I've never tested it in the face of facing numerous bloody battles so…"

It had been several hours since they had arrived at Helm's Deep but however quickly their horses had travelled it seemed that news travelled even faster. Harry had barely dismounted from the horse before he was noticing some stares and pointed whispers directed his way. Théoden, of course, hadn't helped the matters at all by announcing to everyone in the vicinity their status as 'Istari'.

"Thank Merlin for Aragorn," Ginny said with feeling, her thoughts obviously following a similar line to Harry's. "I don't think we would have escaped for _hours_ otherwise."

Harry put an arm around her and she snuggled closer to him. "Welcome to my world," he said, glumly. "Although," he added after a moment's reflection, "in some respects it's nice to be getting recognition for something I _did_ do."

Ginny gave a mock gasp. "What? You mean _Harry Potter_ didn't actually cause the downfall of _Voldemort_?!" She threw a hand dramatically across her forehead. "My life has been a lie!"

Harry nudged her, laughing. "You know what I mean, Gin."

"Yes, yes… I do."

They stayed like that for a while, drowsing against each other. Harry sleepily admitted that it felt nice to sleep like this again. One of the strangest things about joining civilisation at Edoras was getting used to sleeping with other people again. Some of his only contact with other people during their (admittedly short) stay at the capital was in their mass dormitories. He'd spent a very restless first night, jerking awake at every grunt and snore. After a year of living with just Ron and Hermione he wasn't used to the plethora of noise other sleeping bodies made.

Sleeping on the road, ironically, was better for his nerves, although both he and Ginny were uncomfortable with the smaller range of charms they could put up for protection with such a large company. Instead they had stuck to ones of general protection and lay side by side, wands gripped in their hands, even in sleep.

It was nice, Harry thought sleepily. Ginny just fit with him, like she was always meant to be curved up next to him. Her red hair was spread out on his shoulder like a waterfall of fire.

Fire…

There was fire… It wasn't like any other fire Harry had seen; instead it was in a globe, burning fiercely above a dark tower. No, globe wasn't right; it was an eye. A great, glowing, fiery eye and it was staring, staring…

Right at him.

"Harry!"

Harry jerked awake, wand already gripped in his hand. "Wha – ?"

"Nightmare," Ginny said, giving his arm a squeeze. "You woke me up."

"Oh…" Harry blinked his eyes free of the film of sleep still gripping him. It wasn't the first time he'd had that dream. He wondered what it might mean. He grinned, imagining what vastly horrible predictions of his imminent doom Trelawney would make if he'd shared that in his dream diary at school.

Ginny was still watching him. "You ok?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Ok."

There was a pause. Harry squinted up at the sky, wishing that he could work out what time it was… and how long they'd been asleep for. Another party of orcs could be knocking on the doorstep for all they know, tucked in their little warded corner. "Do you think there have been any more attacks yet?"

"Pretty sure we'd hear any if there were," Ginny said, with a smile. The smile quickly stopped as she sighed. "I just don't know what we're going to do when an attack _does_ get here."

"You mean magic wise?"

"Yes."

Harry pulled a face. "We did kind of run head first into this war, without thinking about it," he admitted, with a sigh. "So much for taking our time to decide if we wanted to be involved or not. Sorry, Ginny. Ow!"

Ginny glared at him, fist still clenched from where she had punched him. "Don't be ridiculous, Potter," she snapped, only partly in jest. "You have to _stop_ protecting me. I'm of age and I can choose my own path. More to the point, you've got to respect that otherwise you're going to have a very bruised arm the rest of the time we're in Middle Earth."

Harry started to apologise – again – before he caught Ginny's scowl and simply started laughing instead. "Consider me properly told off," he told her between laughs. "And I give you full permission to hit me if I ever do something stupid like that again."

"Noted," Ginny accepted with a grin. "And we didn't really have a choice, Harry," she added, this time holding onto his arm and leaning in. "People could have – _would_ have – died if we hadn't intervened. And I can't live with that."

"You're pretty amazing, you know that, right?" Harry told her, leaning his head on hers.

"I know. You're not too bad yourself."

"Well, I _am_ the defeater of the Dark Lord, you know."

"Oh, really? What happened to the whole 'getting recognition for something I never did' thing? That your whole life was a lie?"

"Oh, shut up, Gin!"

"Make me."

And he did.

Several minutes later, when both of them were a little more breathless but a lot happier, talk turned once more to how to use their magic in the inevitable upcoming battles. After the horrors of that battle, both of them were eager to limit the amount of offensive magic they had to rely on and were turning their thoughts to how to optimise the amount of defensive magic they could draw on.

"I really wish we could use some of the tricks that Hogwarts has," Ginny said, with a sigh. "That would be amazing."

Harry nodded in agreement. "We could try enchanting statues though, maybe? That should work and I imagine they'd be slightly more resistant to swords than spell fire."

"Maybe. I don't think there are many statues about though."

"True." In fact, Harry could only remember seeing one; that of a King in the immediate entry way. To be honest neither he nor Ginny really knew how many statues were about or even what the general layout of the fortress was as they'd pretty much hidden away as soon as Éowyn had brought them out on their tour. Rumours and gossip apparently travelled a lot faster than they did and they were greeted with a mix of suspicion and awe wherever they turned, crowding in on them from every direction. Both travellers had quickly decided to hide in the first spot they found to let all the commotion die down before continuing. "Plus, there's the fact that they're made out of stone."

Ginny groaned. "Merlin, who knew that stone was so bloody difficult to enchant?"

"Maybe it's just Middle Earth stone?" Harry asked, thoughtfully. "I mean, I don't think I've ever tried to properly enchant stone back on Earth before. Have you?"

Ginny's frown turned thoughtful too at that. "No. We've only really worked with animals and objects like pencils, tea cups and so on. I don't recall ever trying something to do with stone before."

"Maybe it's just stone in general then," Harry said. "I haven't had any difficulty bespelling anything else." So far.

"Me neither. You know, it makes the enchantments of Hogwarts even more amazing, if that's true."

And the cave, Harry thought, but he didn't say that out loud. Instead he simply agreed, adding, "It's a shame neither of us can ward, either. That would provide some rudimentary protection at least."

Ginny went on to talk about possibly booby-trapping some of the areas around the castle instead. She didn't have any of Fred and George's portable swamps on her but she did know enough of the enchantments they used to make a go of it.

Harry listened to her, nodding drowsily. Despite their small nap he still felt tired. Who knew that magical battle could be that exhausting? It wasn't even really physical fatigue, either; rather it was more mental. They'd have to build up their stamina if they wanted to keep on top of things. Sadly, it seemed as though Middle Earth was going to give them every opportunity to work on that.

Suddenly, a thought penetrated Harry's haze.

"That book!" he said, jerking upwards and startling Ginny out of her list of enchantments she knew.

"What?" she asked, but Harry was already reaching into his mokeskin bag. They might not know how to ward, but he _did_ have something to help them – a dog eared book on ancient runes.

Ginny stared at it. "Where did you get that from?" she asked, astonished.

"Wizard One," Harry explained, passing it over to her. "He gave it to me when I started asking questions about warding. I put it in the mokeskin bag because I had nowhere else to put it and simply forgot about it. I mean, it was just a curio, really, as I couldn't apply any of the runes properly without knowledge of Arithmancy… but _you_ know Arithmancy!"

Ginny, however, rather less enthusiastic than Harry felt. "I don't know, Harry," she said slowly, holding the book as though it might bite her. "I mean, I'm not Hermione. I was never amazing at Arithmancy and whilst I took it for NEWTs I've not really had a proper lesson for at least half a year, if not more."

Harry felt his face drop. "Oh. Right. Well, it was only an idea," he said eventually, reaching back for the book. "I mean, I'm not sure how much help that book would be for deciphering ancient runes and knowing which ones to use for what anyway."

"Hold on, Potter," Ginny said, pulling the book out of his reach. "I didn't say we shouldn't _try_ at least. All I said was that it was unlikely to work." She shrugged, giving him a small smile. "I mean, it's not like we've actually got anything _else_ to do in this miserable fortress, is there?"

Harry laughed. "Fair point. Although we should start on a random bit of stone first," he pointed out, getting to his feet. "Otherwise, knowing our luck, we'll do something wrong and blast a hole in the defences just as a group of orcs arrive."

Ginny snorted as Harry pulled her up to her feet. "Yes, because Merlin knows we _really_ need something _else_ to go wrong in our lives right now." She shuddered. "I really hope there are no more warts with them; they were even more terrifying than the orcs and _they_ were bad enough."

Harry made a strange noise as though he was choking. Ginny jumped and shot him a startled look. He imagined he even _looked_ like he was choking – at the very least he could feel his face going bright red and his eyes were beginning to pop out slightly.

"Er, are you ok?"

Harry nodded quickly, trying not hold in the laugh that was bubbling up inside. "Yes, just, um, what did you just say?" he asked, strained.

"About the warts?" Ginny repeated, surprised. "Well, they were pretty horrifying."

"Warts?" Harry repeated, squeakily.

"Erm…"

Ginny jumped as Harry broke into great gulping laughs. "Warts – terrifying warts!" he gasped, still laughing.

Ginny scowled at him. "They're not called warts, are they," she stated, flatly. When Harry only continued laughing she gave him a gentle push. "You are a _git_ , Harry James Potter. What _are_ they called then?"

"War _gs_ ," Harry said, emphasising the g at the end.

"Oh." Ginny went bright red and gave Harry a far more forceful shove when he started laughing again. "Warts, wargs… they're basically the same," she said defensively. "Shut _up,_ Harry. Although," she added with a smile, "it makes more sense than facing down orcs with scary warts."

That sent them both off into fresh peals of laughter, Harry actually bending over almost double. As Harry laughed he felt a load of her stress and tension evaporate. As awful as this day had been – and as awful as the next few days were likely to be – he felt a surge of affection for Ginny. She could always make him feel better, whatever happened.

Eventually they calmed down enough to sober up and straighten, preparing to exit their hidey hole. They both paused at the edge, only the barest glimpse of the outside world visible.

"Ready to face the world?"

"Nope. Let's go."

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	16. Chapter 16

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Sixteen**

"Ready?" Harry called to Ginny. She simply nodded, frowning in concentration.

In unison they raised the wands and traced out the first rune-shape they wanted. Touching their wands to the top left and right corners respectively, Harry and Ginny moved their wands in synch. Golden light flickered slightly in the wake, trailing warm sparks, before finally settling and flowing onto and into the rock. As the shape sunk in the rock began to glow with a faint pearly sheen.

As the colour settled, Harry felt a surge of triumph. He quickly squashed it down, however, repressing the need to look over at Ginny and grin. That had put paid to their last attempt at warding. Instead, Harry moved in tandem with her, twisting out another rune-shape, this time at the lower corners. Forcing the stone to take that shape was a lot harder; Harry could almost _feel_ his wand protesting the movements. At the very least Harry could _certainly_ feel his face getting redder as he gritted his teeth and _forced_ the rune to hold. It seemed as though he was stuck in that impasse for minutes, but in reality it was mere seconds. With a suddenness that almost caused Harry to lose concentration, the trembling light stabilised and the rune-shape flowed into the rock.

He _did_ risk a look across at Ginny then, simply to check her progress. She seemed to be having more trouble than Harry and she was biting her lip so hard she was in danger of drawing blood. However, only a split second after Harry had forced the rock to hold the rune shape the light from Ginny's wand steadied and she looked across at him, nodding.

Harry took a deep breath. This was as far as they'd managed before. Either the rocks had failed to take the runes or they had been so surprised when they did that the spell was broken. Now, however, for the first time the enchantment was holding.

Signalling with a nod, both of them stepped closer together and simultaneously began tracing out the last rune shape. This one was far more unfamiliar than the rest and Harry almost accidentally drew the wrong one. His heart leapt and stomach clenched and he just managed to change his movements in time.

The glowing runes drawn by both him and Ginny matched perfectly. As they stepped closer together, the two runes merged and began to glow even brighter than before. This was a master rune, one they would use to seal the wards they'd placed. It was ridiculously bright and Harry had to blink as tears ran down his face. Neither of them could look away; they had to place their wands at the exact magical centre of the rock for it to hold.

Approaching slowly, one step at a time, they reached the centre. The rune trembled as it got closer to the centre and Harry felt his spirit rise. It was going to work!

As their wands slowly, ponderously, made contact with the centre, Harry couldn't help sending a small smile Ginny's way who grinned back at him. It had worked!

Then the spell blew up in their faces.

Harry soared backwards, the heat of the spell on his face and arms, and crashed into the bean bags. Shaking his head to clear the blast from his ears, the roaring was soon replaced by roaring of a different kind.

"You would think," Ginny said, fighting her way out of her own pile of bean bags, "that they would have got bored of this by now!"

Harry simply laughed. "I'm pretty sure watching two 'Istari' blowing themselves up over and over again never gets old."

Ginny grinned at him and accepted Gimli's hand as he laughingly rescued her from the pile of cushions. Harry fought his own way out and stumbled to his feet, mock bowing to their laughing audience.

They had been working at the warding for a couple of hours now. It turned out that finding a spare piece of rock was not that easy. Any misplaced piece of rock was often requisitioned for use elsewhere in the fortresses defences. But eventually they had scrounged one up and managed to drag it (or, more accurately, levitate it) to an open courtyard.

Harry had initially baulked at practicing their skills in the open for anyone – and, indeed, _everyone_ – to see, but Ginny pointed out that they probably needed a lot of space to work in and it would be safer for them.

From the amount of times Harry had been blown backwards off his feet he was glad she had persuaded him.

Figuring out how – and _where_ – to place the wards was surprisingly easy. In fact, Harry rather thought that it was suspiciously easy. Every single rune was clearly translated, included lists of its properties (i.e. if it was used for protection or used as a power boost) and the book even had the rudimentary steps needed to cast a spell. This didn't match with what Harry knew about ancient runes – or magic books, to that matter – at all. Aside from one or two of his school books, Harry had never known a magical book to clearly and concisely spell out exactly what the reader needed without hiding it in mountains of unnecessary information, theory and flowery descriptions.

In fact, the book was so useful and so _exactly_ what they needed that Harry would have suspected Wizard One of knowing what would happen to them and giving it to them on purpose… that was, if the cave hadn't resulted in his death.

As Ginny had used her Arithmancy skills to calculate the exact magical centre of the slab of rock, Harry let his thoughts drift back to the Unspeakables and his home world. Despite wanting to go back there, Harry was surprised to realise that his thoughts hadn't really dwelt that much on Earth. The last week or so he had been inundated with so much information and come face to face with so strange people and creatures that he'd barely had time to pause, let alone think about home.

They would have discovered the dead Unspeakables almost immediately. Witch Two had remained outside the cave after all. He wondered, however, what everyone was thinking about him and Ginny. Did they think they had died? Maybe they were dredging the lake, sorting through the Inferi to find them? Maybe they just thought they were missing and were waiting anxiously for him and Ginny to appear on their doorstep.

He'd shuddered and had been quite glad when Ginny announced that she'd worked it out.

After that, it had been a series of trial and error. Lots and lots of error. That magical explosion was not the first they'd experienced. Almost as soon as they'd started drawing the first rune the spell had backfired and blasted them off their feet.

That first explosion they had been swamped by various soldiers and townsfolk, all fretting about the health of their new Istari. Some of them had already been in the courtyard; others had trailed curiously after the giant levitating rock. Whatever the reason for being in the open space, none of them had gotten bored as the two of them made all the necessary preparations and, rather than some of them disappearing to attend more important tasks, the crowd around them had grown considerably by the time they were ready. What that meant was that all attention was riveted on the pair of them as they began to cast their first rune…

… and they had a massive audience for their first spell completely backfiring on them.

Now, however, the crowd no longer screamed or ran to assist them when a spell blew up; instead they laughed, cheered and applauded. Harry could swear that he even overheard several people betting about how long it would take for them to blow up again. After the first blow out, both he and Ginny had taken precautions such as imperviating their clothes and conjuring the colourful bean bags (something that generated a great chorus of 'oohs' and astonished whispering). The spells weren't hurting them anymore, just causing some rather interesting hair styles and aerial acrobatics (something that also caused their audience much laughter).

Despite usually absolutely loathing attention, Harry was surprised to discover that he was actually enjoying himself. Harry wasn't sure why. If he had been with the Durselys – and Merlin, didn't _that_ make a funny image! – they would have snarled at him about showing off his unnaturalness. Snape would have sneered something about playing for attention, just like his father. But showing off to Harry meant displaying to everyone that he was better than them, more talented.

Having every single one of your spells explode was _not_ a way of showing he was more talented.

"Maybe it's like providing a service," Ginny had offered, when they'd taken a break from spell casting. "You know; entertaining and distracting them from all the utter crap that's going on and all the fear that's around."

"True, and how often would any of these people have seen magic?" Harry had agreed, looking out at the laughing faces around them. Every single one of their audience was technically a refugee. Most had lost loved ones; all had lost their homes. Their lives were a complete mess right now and who knew if – _when_ – a fresh attack would be mounted, let alone when they could return home. As he grinned at a group of kids that were waving at him, his mind hit upon another positive of their current situation. "They're smiling at us now, laughing at us."

Ginny shot him a look. "Yes, Harry, I _had_ noticed that."

He refrained the childish urge to poke his tongue out at her. "What I _meant_ was before they were too scared to look at us directly," he pointed out. "Because they never see magic, we were just some fearsome mystical wizard and witch."

"But now," Ginny said, catching his drift, "they're looking at us properly. Hell, they're poking fun at us."

"However novel an experience seeing magic is, seeing magic actually go _wrong_ is probably even rarer," Harry continued. "I guess it's helping them see us as more like humans or mortals – that we _can_ make mistakes."

And that, Harry thought, made all the difference. Too often people had only stared at him in awe, ready with some preconceived notions about who exactly he was. True, when the first explosion had happened, far more of their 'followers' had hung back, scared and uncertain of how to approach the pair. That had almost completely disappeared now – ironically, their ineptitude at magic had reassured the people of Helm's Deep.

Harry wasn't sure how much that was going to reassure them if they were attacked again, but he wasn't going to worry about that now.

"You had it, you had it!" Gimli was saying, as Harry pulled his thoughts back to the present.

"Yes," Ginny sighed, "we did. And then we got sloppy. Again."

"You need to stop staring at the lass, Master Wizard!" a voice from the crowd yelled. Titters followed the unknown woman's comments, only increasing as Harry's face went bright red.

"I was – I mean… she was looking at me too!" he spluttered, indignant. Their critic remained silent amid the growing laughs and Harry turned back to Ginny. She was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Unable to take your eyes off me, Potter?" she asked sweetly, eyebrow raised.

"I could accuse you of the same thing, _Weasley_ ," Harry said, although he sounded grumpier than he meant to.

Gimli was staring at the two of them. "In all my travels I will never meet anyone as strange as the pair of you," he commented. "Nor do I believe that I will ever find another couple whose affection and courtship is displayed by the use of insults."

Both of them laughed at that. "Merlin, he should meet Ron and Hermione," Harry told Ginny. "That'd be a _real_ eye opener."

Ginny grinned back at him. "Yes, I'm pretty sure their 'courtship' is based _solely_ on insults and arguments," she agreed, becoming wistful. "I wonder what they're doing now."

Her face fell and Harry leant over to give her arm a squeeze. "They'll be fine," he told her, ignoring the fact that he had been wondering the same thing not two hours earlier. "They'll be worrying about us but we _will_ get back to them."

"Who are this Ron and Herminee?" Gimli asked, interested. "Are they Istari, like you?"

"Well, they're our best friends," Harry said, "and, yeah, they're a witch and wizard too."

"Ron's my brother," Ginny said, with a nostalgic smile. "Hermione's the brightest, cleverest person I know." She pulled a face. "I bet you if _she_ were here instead of me she wouldn't be getting blown up."

They both laughed at that whilst Gimli just smiled at them. "Getting back to business, though, was it seriously just that we looked away from each other? Or what?" Harry asked, getting back to the matter at hand.

Gimli's smile disappeared as he frowned in concentration. Apparently dwarves had a deep connection to the earth and rocks – he certainly knew a hell of a lot more than they did. Although he couldn't wield magic his advice had been surprisingly useful in helping them to feel _with_ the rock. After his first bout of advice their progress had leaped forward massively and Harry suspected that they'd made for more headway than they would have done with just the book (no matter how surprisingly helpful it was).

"You have to be patient with rocks," Gimli rumbled eventually, looking thoughtful. "They are slow to grow, slow to change."

"So, we're going too fast?" Harry asked.

"Aye," the dwarf agreed. "Do not force the rock to take your magicks all at once at the end; let the rock have time to adapt, accept it."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance. "Ok, so at the end we just take, um, slower steps towards the centre?"

He shrugged. "Maybe? And is there any way we can, I don't know, slow down the amount of magic being given off by our wands?"

Ginny pulled a face. "I have no bloody clue." She let out a sigh. "Next time we really, really _do_ need to get stranded with Hermione."

"We've not done too bad," Harry protested feebly, although he had been thinking the same thing a dozen times over. "Besides," he added with a grin, "Hermione would actually still be in Edoras, her nose buried in the library."

Ginny laughed and shook out her shoulders, loosening her arms ready for another bout of attempted ward casting. "Come on, let's go on with it… but, you know, _slowly_."

As Harry took a deep breath, preparing himself, the mood in the courtyard changed. Smaller conversations quieted down as their audience recognised the two of them were ready to start their enchantments once more. Catching Ginny's eye, Harry nodded and she began the countdown. "Five, four, three, two and _one!_ "

In the end it took three more attempts before they managed to lock the ward in place. As the golden light diffused into the rock there were several seconds before either Ginny or Harry could move, both wary of causing another blow-out. And then…

"Hell yes!" Ginny yelled in triumph, face alight. "We did it, we actually bloody well _did it!"_

She grabbed Harry into a hug; laughing he reciprocated, feeling a sense of accomplishment. Neither of them had any training whatsoever; the small 'wards' they used over camps were completely different to embedding a permanent ward in a building. No real training and yet there they were. It was a bloody fantastic feeling, something he could really be proud of.

Around them the courtyard erupted into cheers even though Harry knew they had no idea what it was the pair had actually achieved. Gimli, who _did,_ came up and clapped Harry on the back. "Well done, young Istari," he applauded, grinning.

"Thanks, Gimli!" Harry said, smiling down at the dwarf as he and Ginny broke apart. "Couldn't have done it without you!"

"Bah!" was all of Gimli's reply, although he looked pleased.

"We still need to test it, though," Ginny pointed out. She frowned, searching around them. "I know we just did basic runes for strength and protection, but we need to see exactly what that means."

Harry's shoulders sagged slightly. "Right. Good point. Shall I ask Théo – erm, the King for some of his soldiers?"

Gimli cleared his throat rather noisily. "Not meaning to intrude, Harry, Ginny… as well as being great stone crafters, we Dwarves have a strength unlike any elf or man when it comes to rocks. I offer my skills to test your magical ward," he finished, with a small bow their way.

Harry blinked at Gimli. "Erm… yeah, sure?"

"Wait! Should we put some protection on Gimli first, Harry?" Ginny asked, worried. "We really don't know how our ward is going to react."

"Don't worry yourself, lassie," Gimli said, placing a hand on Ginny's elbow. "We dwarves are much stronger than we look."

"Oh. Erm, ok then," Ginny said lamely as Gimli strode towards the walls, axe raised high.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Gin," Harry said, comfortingly, even as Gimli swung his axe backwards. "I mean, it's not like – shit!"

As soon as the axe made contact with the wall Gimli was blown backwards off his feet, axe shattering. As Harry and Ginny ducked to avoid the shards of metal, Gimli soared across the courtyard, landing and promptly disappearing with a massive whump in the pile of bean bags.

"Are you ok, are you ok?" Ginny called frantically, yanking bean bags out the way to reach the dwarf.

The bean bag pile laughed. "I'm fine, lassie!" Gimli's voice cried, sounding a bit muffled. "Although I could do with a hand getting out!"

"Who knew dwarves were so small they could get lost in a pile of bean bags?" Harry murmured to Ginny as she pushed another bean bag out the way. She pinched her lips to hold back a smile as she glared at him.

"Don't just mock, Potter. You could actually help."

Harry laughed. "Fine, fine; _depulso._ "

The bean bags all flew backwards and Gimli appeared with a grunt, dropping to the flagstones. "Thank you, laddie." He looked ok, although a fair amount of his beard had been singed. He also didn't have any eyebrows. At all. Both Harry and Ginny got one look at that and had to clamp their mouths shut to keep from laughing. He _had_ just got himself blown up on their account… it would be really mean to laugh at him… and wrong…

"What are you laughing at?" Gimli growled, hands going up to pat his face. "What is it? What happened?"

"Nothing, nothing," Harry said, breathlessly, trying to calm down. "It's just your… um, Ginny?"

She bit her lip, holding back her giggles. "Don't worry, Gimli," she said, "I'll fix it." And she waved her wand in a silent spell, causing small reddish-brown hairs to start sprouting. Gimli jumped and looked alarmed, hands flying up to his forehead. "You lost your eyebrows – and part of your beard – I'm just putting them back for you."

Gimli, if possible, looked even more alarmed. "My beard? What happened to my beard?!"

"Nothing, nothing, it's fine now," Ginny said soothingly. "It got a little singed, I'm just growing the hair for you." She twisted her wand again and the hairs stopped moving. "There. Completely fine now."

Gimli didn't look completely convinced but thanked them nonetheless, still occasionally patting his eyebrows and beard suspiciously.

"Well, one thing's for certain," Ginny said after a pause, smiling, "learning how to ward was definitely _not_ a waste of time."

Harry laughed. "True," he agreed, feeling relieved. "Hopefully a full sized wall might have the same effect."

"Or not." Ginny frowned, staring at the rock. "Maybe it's so powerful because it's concentrated?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess there's only one way to find out." Turning away his eyes caught sight of something. "Wow... that axe is completely broken. Sorry, Gimli," he said, picking up the broken handle. "Here… _reparo_!" The handle immediately straightened itself out, splinters of metal flying out from all over the courtyard, sticking faster and faster until the axe was whole again.

Gimli accepted it with a laugh. "I shall never get tired of travelling with you two," he said, giving it a few experimental swings. "Better than new!"

Harry watched him with a smile before turning back to Ginny. "So… should we start on the walls of the fortress?"

Ginny was nodding when they were interrupted by Gimli who had stopped testing his repaired axe. "Hold on a moment, young Istari. Now, I may not be an Istar but I'm sure even one of these here Men could see that working your magicks is no easy matter – surely any further endeavours would be better undertaken after some rest?"

Harry blinked, belatedly realising that Gimli was correct. Pushed to the back of his mind until now, a number of aches throughout his body were suddenly clamouring to let themselves known. He also became uneasily aware of how heavy said limbs were feeling. He _was_ tired. They'd spent the better part of 3 hours trying to master warding and before that several hours of walking followed by a short but intense battle. When was the last time they had even _eaten_?

"Ugh… good point," Ginny groaned, when Harry added his opinion to Gimli's. "I'm just worried the longer we leave this then the more likely we are to forget it or have to start again." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Ok, how about we grab some food and we can try and ward just a couple of walls. After that we can rest. Sound ok?"

Harry nodded his assent. "Perfect," he agreed, smiling at her and reaching out to hold her hand. "I could murder for a good steak pie - or a hamburger. Besides," he added, looking around the courtyard, "it's not as though we're in a rush."

"True," Ginny laughed and began tugging him after Gimli who had agreed to show them where food was to be had. "These walls can wait till tomorrow."

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Legolas Greenleaf stared out into the darkness from the walls of Helm's Deep.

Despite his many years travelling the lands of Middle Earth, he still felt uncomfortable in the Halls of Men. Especially ones such as these, with people crammed in every corner and not a single tree in sight. He sighed imperceptibly, mind drifting to the great trees of Lórien, his own Mirkwood and even the ancient trees of Fangorn. Surrounded by the leafy expanses, the ancient wisdom… he felt most at ease, most comfortable.

A small snort pulled him out of his reflections.

Looking across at the sleeping – and snoring – pair of Harry and Ginny Legolas couldn't help but smile. The two had demanded that Théoden let them out the fortress's walls to perform some magical protection on the stone and Legolas had agreed to accompany them as guard. He was not alone in his duty; several men amongst the soldiers had readily volunteered and even the King himself was curious.

Truth be told, Legolas had been unable to properly fulfil his role as guard for as soon as the pair had conjured their first stream of golden light his attention had been riveted inwards. The golden magic the streamed forth from their wands was unlike any other magic that he had seen the two perform. He had watched the light twist into shapes with no small sense of awe, feeling the magic sing in his very bones.

This call, in a language he could feel in his very blood but not hear with his ears, was what so awed the Elf Prince. All their other spells and enchantments had been great indeed, fast and quick, but none of them had inspired this reaction before. What was different?

"Well, these aren't _spells_ so much as magical words," Ginny had offered when he'd asked after the first wall was aglow with golden light.

"They are as a language?" Legolas had queried. From the conversations around him it seemed that when the two had stepped away from the wall the strange symbols and golden light had disappeared but Legolas could still see them, rippling softly across the wall.

Ginny pulled a face. "Not exactly," she said slowly. "We call them Ancient Runes. I think they represent ideas. I'm not sure though."

Harry had obviously overheard for he added, "No, they can be a language. The copy of 'Beedle the Bard' Dumbledore left Hermione was all written in runes. Oh," Harry said, at Legolas' enquiring look, "erm, 'Beedle the Bard' was a story teller?" He looked over at Ginny at that, seemingly for confirmation for she nodded. "He wrote kids stories in a book. Dumbledore is a wizard that we know – knew."

"So, apparently, yes; runes can be used as a language," Ginny translated. "Neither of us have ever studied them before, though, so we're not the best to ask."

"If you have not studied them before, how are you able to cast such enchantments?" Legolas enquired, curious. From what he knew of magical arts they needed to be studied in great depth before they could be considered mastered. Indeed, both Ginny and Harry had hinted at attending some sort of educational institution before.

Harry blushed a little at that. "Someone gave me a book about warding just before we were… um, well, before we arrived here," he said in a rush. "We've been using the instructions in that to make the wards."

Legolas was even more surprised at that. He would have thought that learning magic was a far more complicated art than it appeared to be.

"These are really basic wards, though," Ginny added quickly. "Complicated wards, like the ones at Hogwarts – our school – would take _years_ to learn how to create. These are really, _really_ simple but it's the best we can do." She shrugged.

"Any assistance, no matter how small, will aid us in our fight against our enemies and the encroaching dark," Legolas said and was rewarded with grateful smiles sent his way.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, Legolas contemplating the magic they had performed and the pair seemingly steeling themselves for their next task. They looked tired, Harry pinching his nose with his eyes closed, Ginny wearily rubbing her shoulders. Legolas was not surprised; the sheer amount of magic they had performed that day was staggering.

After their second and third wards was complete, it was all Legolas or anyone could do to usher them back behind the walls of the Deep before they fell asleep. They certainly had not made it to a bed, simply choosing instead to rest propped up against one of the walls of the battlements instead. That 'rest' had turned into a deep slumber and they were now snoring away, Legolas keeping a careful watch on them. The King had posed moving them inside as the day turned to night, but Aragorn, checking on the pair, had negated that idea, pointing out that rousing any sleeping wizard came with a certain amount of peril.

Turning away from his charges Legolas pondered the two travellers and their magicks once more. Even though the sun had long since set the light of the enchantments cast upon the walls of the Deep were still glowing slightly in his vision. They threw off enough light around them to illuminate the immediate proximity and with his elvish senses he could see much further than the other guards around them. At first he had struggled with concentrating on his task as sentry, the music still singing softly in his mind. It was even stronger when he touched the ramparts facing outwards and he soon learnt to stand a step back from the wall. It was strange, these 'Ancient Runes'. No magic he had encountered before outside their own seemed consistent with elf-kind. This magical language, however, was different and he wondered what it meant about Harry and Ginny and also for the Elves.

As he stared into the deepening dark, Legolas suddenly realised that what he was focussing on was not, in fact, part of the landscape. A smaller smudge of darkness was moving, the odd glint as on metal. He frowned, tensing as he heard something on the wind… the sound of marching.

"Guardsmen!" he called to the soldiers around. "Something approaches!"

His words sent the men around him into a flurry of activity. Legolas himself held his bow at the ready, concentrating on that distant blip and the sound of marching, trying to resolve what he could see. Suddenly, his eyes widened. ' _This cannot be!_ ' But his ears had yet to fail him. Shooting a glance towards his wards, Legolas charged one of the King's men nearby, a rather taken aback Gamling, to watch over the pair and ran off to find Aragorn with the news.

" _What is it,_ _friend?_ " Aragorn asked, curious, as Legolas approached him at a run. He had been in the armoury, inspecting blades. Curiosity turned to alarm as he asked, " _Has something happened to Harry and Ginny?_ "

" _No, fear not, Aragorn, they are safe,_ " Legolas reassured him, speaking in Sindarin as well. " _A company of Elves approaches the gates of Helm Deep._ "

" _Elves?_ " Aragorn repeated astonished, even as he laid down the sword he was holding and began to head towards the gates. " _Where from? And what would Elves be doing here?"_

" _They were too far out to see from whence they came,_ " Legolas replied. " _As to their purpose… I cannot say._ "

Aragorn turned thoughtful. " _Perhaps the Lady Galadriel sent them_ ," he mused. " _It could be that they are here for the children – for Harry and Ginny_."

Legolas considered that. The Lady of the Woods had the great power of Sight, something that could well have allowed her to foresee the presence of the two young travellers. Young as they were, both faced great danger from the powers on Middle Earth. If the Lady Galadriel had Seen the two in a vision, would she send out a force to intersect them and bring them to the safety of Lothlórien? Perhaps, although it did not seem the way to the Lady.

" _Do you think they would go if the Elves asked it of them?_ " he asked Aragorn.

Aragorn frowned. " _I do not know,_ " he admitted, honestly. " _It would mean safety for them, freed of this wretched fight._ "

" _As we have already seen,_ " Legolas pointed out, _"they are quick to help others where they can. Perhaps they will refuse._ "

" _But is it then our task to persuade them to leave?_ " Aragorn mused, clearly torn.

They covered the rest of the distance in silence. As they approached the courtyard it was to find Théoden waiting, as surprised as the rest of them. "Is this _your_ doing, Lord Aragorn?" he asked as the two came into view. "Rohan has not had dealings with Elves for many a year."

"Indeed it is not, my Lord," Aragorn said, drawing to a halt besides the King. "I am just as surprised as you at their presence."

Théoden frowned and then turned away as calls from the gate came that the company had entered. "Let us see what brings Elf-kind to the Deep then."

As the Elves entered, Legolas was surprised. Following the conversation he had had with Aragorn he was half expecting just a smaller party of Elves, ready to escort the travellers back to safety. Instead he was greeted with a full company of Elvish warriors, cloaked and helmeted, all carrying longbows and walking in perfect unison. At the front of their company…

"Haldir!" Aragorn exclaimed, surprised.

The Elf in question came to a halt and looked their way, a small smile on his normally cold face.

" _Greetings, Aragorn, Legolas_ ," Haldir said in Sindarin. Both responded in kind, surprised but glad to see a familiar face. The Marchwarden then turned to the perplexed King. "Greetings, Théoden, King of Rohan," he said formally. "I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell." Besides him, Legolas felt Aragorn start at the mention of his foster father but said nothing. "An alliance once existed between Elves and Men. Long ago we fought together and died together. We come to honour that allegiance."

Silence greeted his words as the King stared at him, somewhat dumbfounded. "We are honoured," he said eventually, "that Elves should choose to fight alongside us once more. Honoured and grateful."

Haldir inclined his head. "The army draws near," he continued. "I place my people in your hands."

As one, the Elves all turned about to face them and stood in ready positions. It was a perfect display of the discipline and precision of his people, but Legolas was too preoccupied with Haldir's statement to appreciate it. "What is this army of which you speak?"

It was Haldir's turn to look surprised. "There is a great host of orcs headed towards the Deep," he said, one eyebrow raised. "Saruman has emptied all of Isengard; it is some ten thousand strong."

"Ten thousand?" Théoden repeated, incredulous, as both Aragorn and Legolas exchanged apprehensive glances. "Such a force has not been seen in Middle Earth for an age!"

"Yet they are coming," Haldir responded calmly. "We have seen them at a distance but they draw ever closer. They will be upon your walls in but an hour."

"An hour – quick! Rouse the men!" the King roared, abruptly turning his back on the Haldir and striding towards the camp. "Find every man and boy capable of holding a weapon and get them up on the battlements!"

The soldiers all rushed after him, yelling to each other and someone began to clang a warning bell. In the chaos, Aragorn and Legolas made their way towards the Marchwarden. " _Such an army can be bred but for a single purpose_ ," Aragorn said grimly, " _to destroy the world of Men_." He turned to Haldir and pulled the surprised elf into a hug. " _Truly, Haldir, you are most welcome. We will need every bow and every sword if we are to survive this_."

Released from Aragorn's embrace Haldir finally broke into a true smile. " _It is not only weapons of steel on your side, Aragorn_ ," the elf commented, " _but seemingly magic as well if the walls of the Keep are any judge._ " Haldir said no more, simply raising his eyebrow in a pointed enquiry.

Legolas started as he remembered his charges, forgotten momentarily in the face of Haldir's news. _"Some, maybe, but not all; they passed out before they finished,_ " he said, ignoring Haldir's gaze. " _Should we awaken them, Aragorn? They have slept many hours – it may be enough for them to finish their work._ "

Aragorn hesitated but eventually nodded. " _Yes, take Haldir with you and explain. Let them do what they can but warn them against pushing themselves._ _I do not know how much their magicks take out of them but they will try to do too much if we are not careful. Fetch Gimli, also; he spent much time with them earlier, perhaps he can help them now._ " As Aragorn finished he turned to the confused Marchwarden. " _Haldir, if you would give me command of your fighters I shall get them positioned. Legolas will tell you all that has happened on our journey since we last met. I must help the King ready the Keep!"_

As Haldir nodded his consent Aragorn was already turning away, calling out for the elven fighters to follow him. Legolas did not waste time watching them depart, simply turning and finding his way back to Harry and Ginny. " _Come, Haldir. I have much to tell you…_ "

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	17. Chapter 17

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Seventeen**

The army was vast.

Aragorn pushed back his fears as he stared down the immense dark horde that was advancing on the walls. Steadily approaching, the snarls of the orcs were already carrying across the vast distance. Squinting he could make out the orderly ranks of the enemy, all approaching with but one goal in mind.

Their complete destruction.

By contrast their own force seemed extremely small and weak, their defences scrambled, mismatched, unready. The last hour had been manic with activity, trying to organise a defensive force comprised of old men and young boys with no time for the reality of their situation to even settle before a sword was thrust before them. Behind and below, he could still hear the hurried yells and shouts, as the last fighters tried to organise their weapons and find their positions. Most of them had a few pieces of mismatched armour but some had none at all. Very few benefitted from a complete set – there simply hadn't been time.

' _Thank the Valar for the elves_ ,' Aragorn thought, glancing either side of him. As well as bringing the news, the elves lent an air of hopefulness to the men around them. They were so calm and precise, some of that had carried across to the nervous ordinary men pressed into service. They were also quick and efficient in helping shore up any defensive holes and even in fletching arrows where necessary.

The women and children had been sent to the caves, some of them – he repressed a smile as he thought of Éowyn – protesting more than others. He had had half a mind to send Harry and Ginny down too but held that thought in. Not only would mere rock not prevent them participating in the battle should they wish it, he had a feeling that the order would undermine the trust between them. So instead he had given them clear instructions about not over exerting themselves and following the orders of himself, Legolas and Gimli.

As the army rumbled closer, uneasiness and fear rippled through the ranks of soldiers across the wall. It truly was immense. Aragorn resolutely squashed down any doubt that the wall would hold. He could not allow such fear to cloud his thoughts or judgement. Whatever his own feelings, however, he could not qualm the dread of those around him, nor raise their spirits.

Especially when it started to rain.

CRACK!

With a noise that caused even the sternest elf among them to cry out, Harry appeared next to Aragorn. His eyes widened as he narrowly avoided being impaled by several swords and arrows and gave a nervous grin.

"Er, sorry about that," he said awkwardly.

"I see you are feeling better," Aragorn said, supressing a grin at the expressions of the elves around him. It was not every day you saw an elf startled. "Should you be using your magic this early on though?"

Harry pulled a face. "It's fine," he said. "No, really," he added, when Aragorn stared at him pointedly. "Although not the most comfortable sleep ever, Ginny and I managed a few hours to build our energy back up."

"You have performed several more of these wards since then, though," Aragorn pointed out. "Surely that has drained your energies."

"A little," Harry confessed uneasily. "But we've only had time to do two more and that didn't take up that much of our energy. I think we wasted most of ours earlier just trying to get it right in the first place." He sighed, sadly. "I just wish we had time to do all the walls. Only some of them are protected right now."

"It is better than none," Aragorn said firmly, clasping a hand on Harry's shoulders. Indeed, from the reactions of the elves around him as the two were casting their 'wards' Aragorn had a feeling that the enchantments the two had placed were a lot stronger than they were letting on. Possibly even stronger than they themselves suspected.

"Thanks," Harry said. "Anyway, I came over here to cast an impervious charm over here, if that's ok with you?"

"What does it do?" Aragorn asked, curious.

"Basically it will stop you getting wet," Harry said with a shrug. "Ginny and I figure everything is miserable enough without getting soaked through as well."

Aragorn raised an eyebrow. As well as being bad for the spirits, rain made everything in fighting more difficult. Clothes and bow strings became saturated, heavier; weapons became looser, more liable to slip from the hand; footing likewise became unsteady. If they could prevent water from striking them it would be extremely beneficial. Peering closer at Harry he realised that, although the wizard had been out in the rain as long as he, the younger man was completely dry. Miracles indeed! "You have my permission."

"Cheers. _Impervius!_ " Harry raised his wand and swished it high in the air.

Almost immediately Aragorn noticed the difference. Whilst water still fell on them, the droplets seemed to slide immediately off without making any real contact. Around him he could hear the elves mutter in Sindarin, fascinated, as the water that had been soaking through their tunics now pooled on top and slid off, as though they were made of glass. A few of them even laughed.

Looking over at Harry to express his thanks Aragorn was met with a wand tip and another incantation. He blinked at the young wizard. Whilst he hadn't felt anything hit him, he still had seen _something_ leave the wand. "What manner of spell was that?" he asked, confused.

"Just your own personal impervious," Harry explained, with a grin. "The one I did before was just a general one for this section of the wall. Something tells me that you're going to be moving around a hell of a lot."

Aragorn paused, feeling something else. "Did you make it _warmer_?"

Harry nodded. "Yep. Standard warming charm. Don't want anyone to freeze to death. Erm, that's just an expression," he added when several of the elves looked at him in alarm. "Anyway, I've got to go. Stay safe."

And he disappeared with a twirl and a crack. Yelps further up the battlements told Aragorn that he had reappeared there, ready to offer his magic to that section of the line.

Unbidden, hope began to rise in Aragorn once more. Their prospects were no different than before – the army that faced them was still immeasurably vast and their numbers ludicrously small – but now the defenders of the Deep were at least dry and warm. The presence of their two not-Istari would certainly aid them in their defence. Haldir's surprise at their existence – meaning the Lady Galdadriel had not Seen them – lent Aragorn some hope that Saruman likewise remained ignorant. In that case, the army snarling at them would be in for a large surprise.

The army reached the walls. In the strange way of battles, as the orcs came to a rippling halt, there was a moment of quiet, as both defenders and attackers stared at the other. Another wave of fear went through the fighters on the wall. The uruk-hai at the front seemed to sense this and the little Aragorn could see of their faces split into wicked snarls.

"Calm, keep your place!" Aragorn called, for the comfort of the human guards. The elf soldiers behind him appeared unmoved by the face of evil in front of them.

Aragorn was not sure if the Uruk-hai had heard him or not; in any case their next act was to begin something Aragorn could only attribute as a war dance. Snarling, shouting, yelling… what little confidence the defenders of the Deep had felt in their ability to defeat their enemy was quickly waning. The orcs knew this… they continued their snarls and cries, assaulting the senses and quickly vanquishing the confidence of their enemy.

"This is all a bit of a palaver, isn't it," a voice quipped near him. Aragorn jumped; in all the noise from the fighters, he had not realised that Ginny had apparated next to his position. Despite her tone, her face was pale and nervous as she peered through the rain to the army.

"They are attempting to undermine our belief and our confidence," Aragorn commented tightly, eyes still locked on the enemy. "Fear is one of their strongest weapons."

From the corner of his eye he saw Ginny frown. "Well, it's bloody well working," she said, shivering. "I've seen battle before – I mean, I saw it earlier today – but I meant even before that. This is on a whole other level though. They really _are_ just monsters."

Aragorn had nothing to say to that, simply nodding his agreement. Watching the still screaming orcs, he called to his fighters to draw. The orcs were working themselves up into a frenzy and then they would attack. They had to be prepared else the foul creatures would be on them before they realised. As one, the elvish company he was with raised their bows. Further down the battlements there was an uneven ripple as the ordinary soldiers followed suit, much more unsteadily. Too many of them were focussed on the orcs, shaking.

Suddenly a silver glow bloomed in the corner of Aragorn's eye. Startled, he forgot himself and looked away, immediately cursing his stupidity as he whipped his head back to the army – what if it had been an orc-trick? But it wasn't… as uncertainly as the archers had initially drawn their arrows, the uruk-hai were now stopping their sounds and looking towards the light. Risking another look, Aragorn looked to his left and gasped.

A beautiful ethereal stag, seemingly made up of shining silver light, was prancing in front of the wall. It was bigger than a normal stag, but pawed at the ground and shook his shining silver antlers exactly the same as a living beast would. But it was not the stag's behaviour that was most astonishing; rather, it was the feeling that Aragorn got as he looked at it. The fear lessened slightly, hope surged.

It was working on the Uruk-hai, too. No longer were there snarls of anticipation, of rage; now there were snarls of uncertainty and even fear.

Next to Aragorn, Ginny breathed in sharply. "Brilliant, Harry," she whispered, eyes shining. "Now let's see…"

"What spell is he using?" Aragorn started to ask but was cut off as Ginny, her face in a determined expression, raised her own wand and shouted, " _Expecto Patronum_!"

A stream of silver shot out the end of her wand and gathered in the sky in front of the wall. After a second as a formless mist it coalesced into a pearlescent, shimmering shape, matching that formed down the other end of the wall. Or not _quite_ the same, Aragorn corrected himself, squinting to resolve the bright light into a cantering horse rather than the princely stag. Whatever the shape, the effect of the glowing animal was the same; in fact its strange ability to raise the hope of all around it was even stronger. The elves were staring, fascinated, and a strangled cheer began to form, working its way down the line.

"If you're looking for an opportune moment to start this fight," Ginny said from next to him, "I don't think you're going to get a better one." Her attention was focussed on her silvery apparition, but he knew she was correct. Right now the uruk-hai were thrown, uncertain; the spirits of the defenders, however, were unlikely to be higher.

" _Archers, draw!_ " Aragorn called, motioning down the line and repeating the language in Westron. It was a mark of the elf's discipline that they were only a split second later than normal in obeying his command. His instruction had been relayed down the line and soon Aragorn could see, once more, the men of Rohan drawing back their bows. This time, however, there was a strength and confidence that had not been there but two minutes earlier.

"Ginny," Aragorn said quickly, "can you drop your enchantment when I signal you?" Getting a nod in response, Aragorn quickly turned his attention back to the archers. " _Prepare to fire! Release the arrows!"_

And so the battle for Helm's Deep began.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

Ginny's arm was beginning to ache.

She had long since lost track of the number of spells that she had cast. Her first reaction upon seeing the ridiculously humungous army approaching the walls was "Holy shit." A very frantic thirty minutes later, when they had finally reached the walls, had not changed her opinion much. In fact, when the orcs – Legolas had called them Uruk-hai, although Ginny was not sure of the difference – had initially started their 'war dance' Ginny had responded with some choice swear words that would have caused her Mum to ground her for at least a month.

Once the battle began in earnest, however, there was no time to be afraid. Every single thought and feeling was concentrated on keeping the orc army as far back from the walls as possible.

" _Incendio!"_ Ginny cried, flicking her wand as a jet of fire issued forth. It wasn't quite as effective as she'd hoped; between the distance and the ever present rain it only managed to catch a couple of orcs.

' _Well, there's one good thing,_ ' she thought, swallowing slightly as the monsters burned, ' _at least I can't hear their screams through all this racket._ ' Battle was definitely not quiet.

Fire wasn't working. Ginny quickly turned her mind to different curses. " _Confringo!_ " she yelled and was rewarded by seeing part of the ground explode underneath some orcs. " _Confringo! Reducto! Expulso!_ Shit!"

That last was as a wave of arrows made their way across the gap. Ginny ducked, automatically casting _protego_ but, asides from slowing slightly, the arrows passed straight through. She stood up, shaking, trying not think about the screams of people hit. Instead she focussed on a particularly large orc and snapped out another blasting curse. This time it was the orc that exploded rather than the ground.

After that, everything was a blur of movement. Arrows rained constantly over her head, both out towards the enemy and inwards towards the Keep. She learned to duck at those moments, occasionally blasting arrows out of the sky with her wand. The rest of the time she was hurling hexes left, right and centre. Blasting hexes followed _incendio_ ; slicing hexes chased simple banishing charms; she even used _augemanti_ at one point to blast back a large section that had been pushing forward far too quickly. It was exhausting.

One thing did make Ginny pause for a moment; large stones were suddenly appearing in the middle of the orc army. And they weren't appearing on the ground; these rocks – boulders – were popping into existence at least 50m up before plummeting to the ground and squashing the unfortunate orcs underneath them flat. Ginny gave a small grin at Harry's inventiveness before getting back to her own battles.

BANG!

Ginny jumped, slicing hex narrowly avoiding a nearby elf, as the loud sound rang through the air, louder than anything else. Twisting around to see what had happened, she let out a surprised laugh as the men of Rohan cheered.

A small party of orcs had got close enough to the wall to strike it and finally engage their wards. Even after what they had seen happen to Gimli she had had doubts about the effectiveness. Those last two had been put up rather hastily. Ginny was still rather surprised the pair of them hadn't been blown up on the last, they were so anxious to be done before the army was in sight. She certainly wasn't expecting it to work properly.

' _Well, I'm certainly not worried_ now _!'_

Battle suddenly halted as both sides watched the orcs get caught in a massive magical explosion. Ginny blinked in surprise as the small shapes of the orcs flew backwards through the air, colliding with a crack with one of Harry's boulders. None of them got up.

Ginny swallowed and peered down the line for Harry, even as the defenders let out a massive cheer. She was pleased the wall had worked… well, sort of pleased… but she certainly hadn't thought it would be that dramatic. Gimli had got blasted backwards, true, but he was only a little singed. Ginny had a rather nasty suspicion that all of those orcs had been dead before they struck the rock.

' _It's a good thing, though,_ ' she told herself firmly, watching as the orc army retreated slightly, muttering darkly. Arrows were still flying, although less were in than were going out. The enemy didn't seem to know quite what to do with a wall that blew them up. ' _I mean, you're up here, killing orcs anyway. Less for you to blast this way._ '

It didn't make her uneasiness go away though.

"Hey!" Harry apparated next to her with a crack. He wasn't looking at her though, just staring wide eyed over the wall. "Did you know our wards would do that?"

"No," Ginny said, shivering as Harry put a name to her discomfort. She _didn't_ and Ginny Weasley did _not_ like her magic doing things she didn't know about. "I thought it would just push them back a little, like Gimli."

"Me too." Harry paused, still staring at the orcs. They were louder now, but still not advancing. Seemed their magical walls really had thrown them. "Do you… is it just because they're bigger?"

"The orcs?" Ginny asked, surprised. "Well, I mean they _are_ bigger than Gimli – most everyone is – but I would have thought that meant there was less damage than – "

Harry let out a muffled shout of laughter. "No, not the orcs – the walls!"

"Oh." Ginny went pink and tried to ignore Harry's attempts to supress his laughter (they were not going very well). "Well, possibly… I mean, maybe the magic's more concentrated."

"The intent, too, that's probably making a difference. Maybe," Harry reasoned before suddenly stiffening. "Hang on – looks like they're moving again."

Sure enough, the orcs were moving forward again. They were less certain – definitely less happy – but they were moving nonetheless. Ginny sighed and felt Harry's arm encircle her and pull her into a short hug. "Are you alright?" he asked, quietly, eyes now fixed on her.

"Yeah," Ginny said, resisting the urge to shake out her right arm. Again. "You?"

He pulled a face. "Yeah," he said, "for what it's worth." Harry straightened up, eyes back on the enemy once more. "Well, I'd better get back to Legolas and Gimli." He paused as he made to apparate away. "Stay safe, yeah?"

Ginny laughed. "Yes, extremely safe!" she agreed sarcastically, shooting another blasting hex over the wall for emphasis. Harry laughed and cracked away.

The battle continued.

The orcs were a lot more hesitant than before but were still racing forward. Ginny launched hex after hex – even managing to transfigure something a bit like Fred and George's portable swamp at some point – but the orcs were still coming. Every now and then there was a loud bang as more orcs came up against the wall. It was happening less and less, however, and Ginny figured it out a split second before Aragorn spoke to her.

"They are testing the walls," he said, looking grimly at another section where orcs could be seen huddling at the base. That particular wall _was_ warded… but the ward hadn't been triggered. Ginny realised with a groan why – they weren't attacking the wall. They were just touching the stupid thing. ' _Something else we missed_ ,' she thought. ' _Merlin's balls._ '

"Yep," Ginny agreed shortly, sending an incendio to trap the orcs. Smug gits. "Finding the weaknesses – _our_ bloody weaknesses. Idiots!"

Aragorn frowned at her. "You are too hard on yourself, both of you are," he admonished her. "The walls would be climbing with orcs already had your wards not been in place. You have gained us at least an hour and orcs are creatures that are ruled by their emotions – some will get excited and overcome with blood lust. They will forget and strike at the wall. Your wards are not finished yet!"

Ginny managed a small smile as Aragorn quickly clasped her arm before turning and striding off to another part of the wall, calling out more elvish commands. She herself turned back to the battle, wand already raised to send more hexes out. If they didn't already, the orcs would soon realise which walls were unwarded. Then their hesitation would be gone and it would be full steam ahead once more.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

" _Pendraid!_ " Aragorn yelled some time later. Ginny had gone back to ignoring him – mainly as she didn't understand a single world of Elvish – but snapped her head towards him when he yelled her name. "Ladders!"

She shook her head and refocussed further down the wall. Sure enough, ladders where appearing and beginning to rise. Apparently the orcs had realised that if they weren't directly attacking the wall with a weapon then the ward wouldn't do anything to them. Ginny grimaced and mentally kicked herself once more. Fat lot of good those wards were doing now! The black swarm of orcs were already beginning to ascend the ladders, even though they were only part way up the wall.

This was definitely _not_ good.

"Right, on it," she yelled in response, twisting and apparating over to the spot.

"Ginny!"

Despite it all, Ginny couldn't help but break out into a smile as Harry appeared next to her, grabbing her into a hug. It must have been at least an hour since they last saw each other and they both looked worse for wear. He was trembling badly but whether it was due to exhaustion, fear or adrenaline she didn't know. It took her a moment to realise that he wasn't the only one.

It was a brief hug, but enough to buoy her senses. As he let go of her he immediately turned back to the battle. She did likewise but Harry wasn't content to fight side by side in silence this time.

"You know, Ginny, on reflection," he panted, sending a line of fire down one ladder, "whilst causing huge magical explosions was pretty cool, maybe instead of warding the walls with strength next time, we should use _glisseo_." He turned to look at her, with a faint smile. "I think that would be _slightly_ more useful, don't you think?"

She blinked at him, surprised. Light hearted banter was the last thing she was expecting. Banishing an orc backwards she squinted at him. He looked a hell of a lot wearier than his tone suggested; maybe this was Harry's idea of trying to boost his spirits? More likely, she thought grimly, trying to distract himself from the horror of it all.

"Well, _you_ thought there would be catapults," she retorted after a moment, sending an _incarcerous_ down at a climbing orc. Immediately becoming tied up the orc screamed and fell off the ladder, crashing into a couple more on the way down. "And what do we find, Mr Potter? There are no. Bloody. Catapults."

Harry smile turned rueful, even as he banished another encroaching ladder backwards. "I know," he admitted. "I think they're doing _something_ more than just blasting them backwards if they hit it, though. Not sure what exactly, but have you noticed fewer arrows are getting past the wall then there should be?"

Ginny blinked at him, surprised, as he used a _reducto_ to turn one ladder to splinters. "No," she said, honestly, "I've been too busy ducking."

Harry shrugged and together they used _confringo_ to blow up another ladder.

There were too many ladders to stop, however; as quick as Harry and Ginny could knock them down the wall was too long and there were too many orcs to succeed completely. Before long they barely had time to even glance over the walls, let alone stop any more ladders; they were too busy fighting the swarm of orcs on _their_ side of the wall.

" _Levicorpus!_ " Ginny roared, causing a very startled orc to be pulled off it's feet and dangle upside down. Giving it no time to realise it could still swing it's very large sword around, Ginny quickly banished it over the wall where it fell, screaming. " _Sectum Sempra! Glisseo! Expulso!_ "

As the orcs fell she reached out and grabbed hold of a fallen man nearby, pulling him up to his feet and away from the orcs. He was bloody but still able to walk. He gave her a wide eyed look of thanks but she was already moving. She and Harry had split up at least twenty minutes ago, spreading themselves out along the breached wall, trying to clear as many orcs as possible.

Ducking round a pair of fighters – quick tripping jinx sent to the orc as she passed – Ginny found her next target. In front of her the largest orc she'd seen yet had just buried his axe in the head of one of the elves. Spotting her it snarled, yanking the enormous axe out and making its way to her.

"Oh no you don't," Ginny said, fury overriding her fear. " _Sectum Sempra!_ "

Unlike all the others, however, this orc didn't keel over. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the creature had moved, incredibly ducking out of the way of her invisible spell. ' _Merlin! Shit, shit, shit!_ '

" _Glisseo_! _Incendio_!"

As the orc lost his footing, he slid forward, right towards the wall of fire she had kist conjured. She only had a moment of triumph before Ginny realised her mistake – the orc had slid into her fire… and promptly out of it as well. It gained it's feet without even stopping, leaping towards her, with it's axe held high –

CRACK!

As the orc's axe came down on empty air Ginny swished her wand in the first spell she'd ever learnt. " _Wingardium Leviosa!"_ Looking stunned, the orc was wrenched into the air and then flung out over the wall as quickly as Ginny's wand could make him.

It wasn't quick enough. Just before the creature slipped out of sight, he managed to fling his axe at her. She cursed and stumbled backwards, but wasn't quite fast enough. A line of searing fire trailed along her side and she dropped to the floor, clutching her side in agony. Pulling her hand away revealed a trace of blood but, once the initial shock wore off, she could see that the axe had only scraped her side, the cut shallow. It was long, though. Whilst it wasn't the first cut she'd received it was the most painful. With a quick _episkey_ the cut sealed and she scrambled back to her feet, silently thanking Merlin that she'd finally persuaded someone to let her wear a tunic and leggings rather than the ridiculous dresses she'd had before.

"Harry! Ginny! _Togo hon dad_ , Legolas!"

Ginny's head whipped around at Aragorn's cry. He was roaring and pointing at something on the ground. Stumbling to the wall, Ginny squinted for a moment before she found what he was looking at. A lone, massive orc – even bigger than the one she'd just killed – was running full tilt towards the wall, intent on something there. Even as she watched it jerked as an arrow – presumably from Legolas – struck it, but it kept on running.

Watching its progress as though in slow motion, Ginny had a terrible sense of foreboding. She didn't know what exactly the orc was going to do, but prickles down her spine told her that this wasn't going to end well.

And the wall it was aiming for hadn't been warded.

" _Dago hon, dago hon_!" Aragorn was still yelling. Ginny needed no translation this time – neither did Harry. A dark grey spell hit the orc at the same time as one of Legolas' arrows but it was still moving. Ginny twisted and apparated… she wasn't at the right angle, she couldn't fire from there…

She rematerialized onto the wall as it blew up beneath her.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

And so begins the first of many chapters of battle! Apologies as I'm not overly good at writing good descriptions (and also because this chapter is a lot darker than others). But, then again, it's a dark time so… :p

Thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx


	18. Chapter 18

**Title:** Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

 **Summary** : Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

 **Pairings:** mild, cannon pairings only

 **Rating:** T, for some language and fight scenes

 **Chapter Eighteen**

When the wall exploded all Ginny saw was fire.

Flying back across the courtyard, she smacked into a wall and pain immediately shot through her. Slumped against it, it took her brain a moment to catch up to what had happened and where she was. Struggling to move upwards, the world in front of her blurred and fogged, sound oddly muted.

One thing that _wasn't_ muted was the intense agony running through her entire body, but especially focussed on the back of her head. She blinked, eyes watering with the pain and making everything even more out of focus than it already was. Struggling to move she stopped as she experienced a sudden surge of nausea, black spots dancing in front of her eyes.

' _Merlin… not good, not good,_ ' she thought to herself, biting her lip and trying to brace herself against the pain. Dimly she registered that there were other things she should be worrying about but she couldn't persuade her brain to focus on them. Instead all she could do was take in ragged breaths, trying not to be sick from the spasms of pain every time her head moved and to not pass out.

Eventually Ginny became aware of her surroundings as the pain faded somewhat. The first thing to penetrate the cloud of hurt were the screams and yells, all oddly distorted. It sounded as though they were coming to her through a badly tuned radio. She vaguely wondered what the yells were for before her memory caught up to her in a painful rush.

Blinking her eyes back open she squinted, only seeing faintly moving shapes and a dark mist – smoke, she belatedly realised, from the explosion at the wall. Bracing herself, Ginny struggled to pull herself upright, blinking rapidly to pull the world into focus. Finally the shapes in front of her began to resolve into outlines she could recognise…

… just in time to realise an orc was right in front of her, running forward and sword raised and ready to make a kill.

Terror shot through Ginny's body like ice, freezing the red-hot pain currently immobilising her. Thank Merlin her wand was still in her hand… but her movements were still slow, sluggish… she wouldn't be able to raise her wand in time… a scream was making its way to her lips…

The orc lurched to a stop, bellowing before quickly falling backwards. Ginny blinked, mouth still open to scream. ' _What had – Legolas!_ _Thank Merlin_ ,' Ginny thought with utter relief. The blonde elf in front of her swiftly pulled his sword from the stomach of the fallen beast and turned to face her. She blinked and Legolas' familiar face melted into the face of another elf, one she had met – Haldir.

"Here, Istar," he told her, reaching out a hand and pulling her to her feet.

As Ginny surged upwards all her senses screamed acutely and she had to take several gulping breaths lest she vomited all over her saviour. She gingerly shook out her limbs, trying to dispel the disorientation as best she could. Being upright was better but things were still out of synch.

There was no time to take a breath, however; even with her hindered vision she could still make out the massive hole the explosion had created in the walls of Helm's Deep and the horde of orcs that were flooding through it. A smaller group of orcs were heading their way and Ginny gripped her wand with shaking hands.

" _Sectumsempra,_ " she cried hoarsely but her spell missed the orcs, splashing uselessly on the wall behind them. Ginny cleared her throat and tried again, " _Confringo!"_

The ground in the midst of the orcs exploded, blasting two thirds of them backwards. There were still four heading their way, however, and they were on them before Ginny could draw breath for another spell.

Stepping back, Ginny fell back on one of her favourite spells as an orc loomed right in front of her. It was by no means lethal but having great bat shaped bogeys force themselves out your nose was enough to stop even the most hardened orc in their tracks. Whilst the orc shrieked Ginny took another breath and summoned a sword towards her, impaling the orc as he tried to bat away the attacking bogeys.

Strength spent for the time being, Ginny slumped against the wall, shaking. Haldir had killed one orc and was engaging another, efficiently cutting through its defences. The last orc, Ginny saw, had been felled by an arrow from the wall.

"You need to get to safety." Ginny blinked up, Haldir's face swimming in front of her as he stared at her in concern. "You are injured, Istar. Use your powers to disappear and seek help."

Ginny shook her head and then gritted her teeth as the action sent fresh waves of pain throughout her body. "I can't," she admitted, breathlessly. "I think I've – my head isn't letting me focus… If I go wrong then I splinch."

Haldir looked at her quizzically for a moment, clearly not having the foggiest idea what splinching was. "What of the other Istar?"

Ginny closed her eyes. "Yes, Harry could take me," she agreed, but didn't place much hope on it. She had no idea where he was – he, equally, would have no clue where she was or that she was in need of assistance. There was also no way to contact him; even if Ginny knew how to embed messages in a patronus there was no way she had enough to concentration to form one. "I'll be ok," Ginny said instead of pointing all this out.

Haldir shot her an unreadable look. "We shall make our way back to the others," he said calmly. "It may be that the other Istar can be found with them. Can you move?"

Ginny made a non-committal noise. "Not yet," she said honestly. "Give me a moment." Pushing herself away from the wall, Ginny tried to aim as best she could at the back of her head. If she had been thinking clearly she would have realised what an immensely stupid thing this was to do; if she accidentally pronounced this spell wrong she could blast a hole in her own head. Desperate times, however, called for desperate measures; if she could not escape and no one could rescue her then she was going to have to make do with what she had.

" _Episkey!"_ Ginny incanted firmly, almost passing out again as the wound in the back of her head knitted back together. Once the immediate pain had passed, however, she _did_ feel better. Her head no longer ached with every movement and she didn't feel as sick anymore. Handy as the spell was, however, it could do nothing for the slightly murky thoughts that were the result, she suspected, of a concussion but it was better than nothing.

"Istar?" Haldir asked.

Ginny opened her eyes and nodded grimly at him. "I'm ok, Haldir," she said firmly. "Let's get on with it."

Despite her reassurances to the elf, Ginny was _not_ ok. Following in his shooting and slicing footsteps, Ginny felt very unsteady. She certainly couldn't use the accurate spell work she had earlier, Ginny had to resort to an arsenal of imprecise spells to fight her way through the enemy. _Glisseo_ and _incendio_ were her new best friends and approaching orcs quickly fell back behind the curtain of fire she conjured.

As she stumbled in Haldir's wake, however, Ginny had time to be impressed by the elf. His movements were as liquid, flowing from one move to the next. It was almost as though the fierce, chaotic battles he engaged in were simply just a dance that had already been choreographed. The few times Ginny had _really_ seen Legolas fight she had caught a glimpse of that. Shooting a banishing charm at another approaching orc she wondered briefly if that was how _all_ elves fought or if it was something that only Haldir and Legolas could do. In either case, it made her own faltering progress feel even more awkward and ungainly.

The two of them had made good progress fighting their way across the battle but then there was a sudden surge of orcs. Tripping backwards, Ginny could feel herself beginning to panic again. They were so close! What she really needed to do was use her more lethal spells – _sectumsempra_ , _diffindo_ , _deprimo_ – but the orcs were so close she ran the danger of hitting Haldir or the spell backfiring and hitting herself.

" _Stupefy! Stupefy!_ " Ginny yelled desperately, trying to aim the red jet as far away from Haldir as possible. " _Petrificus Totallus! Lockomorter! Incendio!"_

A whoosh of red fire flared and several orcs swerved away, shrieking, but it wasn't enough… Another orc got close enough to grab at her head. She yelled and struggled before remembering the short dagger the King had insisted she and Harry both wore. As she stabbed erratically at the beast she felt it shudder and then he collapsed, pulling her down on top of him. Pushing away Ginny shook more badly than usual and this time it had nothing to do with her injury. She looked down to see the hot black blood of the orc she'd just killed running of her hands, the impervious charm still in place, and stifled a sob. Instead, she quickly pulled her knife out, resolutely ignoring the wet sound it made, and turned back to the battle.

Her fight with the orc had lasted but seconds and the horde surrounding her and Haldir was no smaller. Desperately she put the dead orc beneath her to the back of her mind and focussed on snapping out as many spells as she could, even risking some more lethal ones. " _Depulso! Stupefy! Deprimo!_ " However many orcs Ginny seemed to push away, however, more just kept coming. Her spells were too slow, her head was starting to spin; they were going to be overwhelmed.

Suddenly there were more lights joining their battle; red, blue, grey, gold, they thundered into the orcs mercilessly and they fell backwards around them. Haldir renewed his own attacks and Ginny, biting her lip, managed to deal with the outliers. The orcs were dealt with in no time.

"Thank you, Istar," Haldir said in the quiet pause that followed.

"You're welcome," Harry said, sounding out of breath.

Ginny looked over at him, blinking away a resurgence of dizziness. Harry's face was bloody, causing Ginny's heart to freeze – was he hurt? But the way he moved, staring carefully around them for more enemies, belied that. ' _Maybe it was orc blood,_ ' Ginny thought before remembering that the blood that had coated her hands was black. Bile rose again, but Ginny pushed it away, stumbling as she tried to regain her focus.

"Ginny?" Suddenly Harry's cool hands were on the sides of her head, carefully tilting her head upwards. Blinking, Ginny stared into his worried green eyes before he looked away angrily. "You're hurt!"

"She got caught in the explosion, Istar," Haldir responded calmly. "We were making our way to you when we were ambushed."

"Why didn't she – I mean, Ginny, why didn't you apparate?"

"Concussion," Ginny managed to grunt out. Now that they had stopped moving all her aches and pains seemed to be catching up to her once more. The surge of adrenaline from the battle coupled with her already injured head meant that the world was going alarmingly out of focus again and her hands were shaking badly.

"Shit," Harry swore, grabbing her hands. Looking up, Ginny saw him shoot a look towards Haldir. "Thanks, Haldir, for saving her – I'll be back in a bit."

Haldir simply inclined his head. "You are welcome, Istar."

"No, Harry, don't, I'm fine – I'm – "

But Harry was already twisting and the familiar squeeze was working its way up Ginny's body. In the split second before they disappeared, however, they caught sight of a fresh horde of orcs surging to their position – to attack Haldir…

And then he was gone.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

As soon as Harry reappeared in the inner sanctum of Helm's Deep he knew that Haldir was doomed.

"Get back there right now!" Ginny shouted at him, rage for a split second clearing her unfocussed eyes. "He'll die!" And she pushed him away, stumbling to lean against a wall. "GO!"

Harry wasted no more time, simply staring at her before disapparating on the spot.

He was too late.

As the world came back into focus Harry watched, horrified, as a massive knife plunged into Haldir's back. Even as Harry roared out a spell, shooting the gleeful orc away, the damage was already done.

"Merlins balls!" Harry swore, even as he sent out another deluge of spells to beat back the rest of the orcs. He had to admit that when he first met the elf he had been hit by the sudden impression that this was a 'Malfoy' – long blonde hair, cool attitude. The few times where they had interacted, however – Haldir really wasn't much of a talker – had shown that he was wrong. The elf was reticent, sure, but not out of a superiority complex; it was just his nature. And besides, wasn't Haldir there besides them, fighting against the very same evil?

Plus he had definitely saved Ginny's life. That totally put him in Harry's good books.

" _Reducto_!" Harry bellowed, blasting several orcs backwards at once. " _Defodia_! _Expulso_!"

Rage was lending Harry's spells more power, freeing him of some inhibitions. He no longer qualmed at sending his most explosive curses straight at the monsters. Yet as quickly as Harry cleared the space around them, more orcs appeared, flailing their weapons and yelling bloody murder. They were too close to the breach in the wall and there weren't enough defenders nearby.

Harry ducked under the sword of one of the orcs, stumbling over the uneven stone work. In his peripheral vision he could say the stricken elf stirring slightly and felt a faint surge of hope – Haldir wasn't dead. Yet.

Shooting out a spell to blind the orc that had nearly scalped him Harry took a risk and shot two of his most powerful blasting hexes at the ground of the orcs in front of him and just beyond the breach. As the stone work exploded Harry hastily summoned some fallen shields to form a wall, protecting himself and Haldir from the flying pieces of rock. He flinched as he felt several splinters impact his 'wall'. A couple got through and hit him in the wand arm, causing a sharp pain and a fresh wave of blood trickling down his arms. He already had numerous smaller cuts all over his body but hadn't had the time to stop and heal them.

Dropping the shields when the noise stopped, Harry breathed a short sigh of relief. For now the breach was clear.

" _Reparo! Reparo_!" Harry chanted, gritting his teeth. "Come on, you stupid wall, _REPARO_!"

Slowly, agonisingly so, the stones lifted and began reassembling themselves. It was too slow, though – he could feel the stone resisting it, just as they had every time he'd tried to bespell rock. More than that, he could already see the first glimmers of movement beyond the gap – the first signs that the orcs were once again massing at that point. It would only take one getting through to cut him down. That is unless he stopped repairing the wall to blast the orc.

Then Harry started to glow.

Almost jerking his wand away from the wall in surprise, Harry stared down at himself, shocked. ' _What the bloody hell…_ '

After one bewildered moment, Harry suddenly realised that _he_ wasn't glowing. Rather, the soft golden light was gathering _around_ him, suffusing his body with warmth and strength. Looking up, baffled, he saw thin tendrils of light reaching out to either side of him, awash with strange magical symbols.

' _Not strange symbols,_ ' Harry thought, beginning to understand what was going on, ' _runes –_ our _ancient runes, the ones we drew on the walls. But –_ ' But it didn't make sense. The section of the wall that had been destroyed hadn't been warded, they hadn't had the time. Yet the rest of the wall was offering him the strength to repair it, almost as though it recognised that the broken bit was part of the whole.

It didn't make sense.

But then, Harry reflected, what in this stupid world _did_ make sense? And he wasn't exactly going to look a gift horse in the mouth, either. It wouldn't be the first time – and not, he hoped, the last – that magic took steps to protect him in a way that he didn't think possible. So, grinning, he gathered in all that magic that was being offered to him and pushed it out towards the broken wall.

Suddenly the rocks began moving faster and faster. It was like watching the wall being built in fast motion, as though someone had pressed the fast forward button on one of Dudley's videos. Peering beyond the rapidly disappearing breach Harry could see the frantic motions of the orcs, getting closer and closer – they weren't going to get through in time.

With a last crunch the wall sealed itself against intruders.

Harry collapsed to the ground, but he was not exhausted; channelling that strange magic had been oddly energising. Instead, Harry was overwhelmed with what he'd just done and the strange improbability – _impossibility_ – of it all. He _really_ needed to learn more about magic.

"Harry!"

Harry looked up, startled, just in time to see an orc fall to the ground, two arrows in it's back. Legolas and Aragorn ran to his side, looking wide eyed.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Aragorn asked.

Harry shook his head to clear it of the magical daze he'd been in. "Yes, fine, I just… I wasn't expecting _that_ ," he admitted, glancing over at the wall, still surprised to see it whole.

Aragorn and Legolas, too, glanced at the wall. "Every time I saw more of your magicks, Istar, the more astonished I am," Legolas said, looking back at Harry. "The orcs will not find it easy to breach the wall a second time – not now we are aware of their tricks."

"And if they succeed then we know that Harry or Ginny can repair them," Aragorn agreed but Harry wasn't listening. The way Legolas had called him 'Istar' reminded him of why he had been so eager to clear the breach as quickly as possible. Searching through the massive pile of orc bodies around him – it scared him how many there were – he finally caught sight of a shock of white-blond hair. Carefully banishing the orc bodies away, Harry grabbed hold of Haldir's arm and turned to face the others.

"You've got to get men to cover this wall," he said quickly. "It's the weakest point and I don't know if I _can_ fix another breach. The magic on the walls stretched a little, I think, but it might break a second time."

And, without waiting to hear their responses, Harry apparated away with a loud crack.

Reappearing back where he had left Ginny it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the different setting. The first thing he saw was Ginny, leaning against the wall and looking startled. Before he could say anything, however, her eyes refocussed unsteadily on the prone Haldir. "What happened?"

"He's still alive," Harry said quickly, although lying unmoving on the cold floor with a bloody great big knife in his back, it didn't look as though he was.harry "Orcs," he added unnecessarily, "I managed to clear them but…" He trailed off.

Ginny wasn't listening, simply grasping onto Haldir's hand, reaching for a pulse. He swallowed and looked around at them. They weren't the only ones who had retreated here. Around Harry and Ginny's position were a score of men, each nursing a different wound. Some were looking around them, with alert but pained eyes. More of them weren't moving at all.

Harry swallowed again, this time trying not to think about how many more like these were outside – dying – or, worse, already dead. He couldn't stay there and watch… already grief was beginning to bubble up inside him and he knew from experience that he couldn't let it. Not now. Not yet.

The rage, on the other hand…

"Stay here, Ginny," he said quiet but firmly. "Get better and I'll… I'll see you later."

She looked up at him sharply but he disapparated before she had a chance to respond. Reappearing back at the newly repaired breach, Harry gaped slightly. Aragorn and Legolas certainly hadn't wasted any time. The top of the wall was already teeming with soldiers once more, most of them Haldir's brethren. Aragorn was calling in elvish and the fighters were responding, standing ready.

They weren't fighting though. Harry blinked and realised something that he hadn't noticed earlier.

The night was silent.

Running to join Aragorn, Harry could hear _some_ sounds - the dimmer sounds of clashing swords from the orcs that had not been cleared inside the walls – but they were nothing compared to the roar that had been occurring beforehand. Even the rain had disappeared.

"Aragorn! What's going – "

Harry clapped his hands over his ears, wincing at the sudden surge of noise. Squinting at the enemy to determine their new strategy, it took a moment for him to realise that it wasn't the orc army; it was the defenders of the Deep, cheering.

Cheering _him_.

"Let's see them break us _now_ , eh laddie!" Gimli roared, whacking Harry on the back.

Harry blinked at the dwarf, belatedly realising how relieved he was to see him alive and seemingly uninjured. He certainly looked fierce and ready for action, axe freshly gleaming. "Erm, right?" Harry agreed tentatively, before staring out at the enemy more closely. His embarrassed expression quickly turned to a grin as he saw them milling around bewildered. "Well, they certainly _look_ rather flummoxed."

Gimli laughed. "I doubt they know what to do with a wall that magically fixes itself after being blown to pieces," he said, leaning over the wall. "We may yet live out the night."

Harry frowned at the dwarf as he headed back to his position, but still couldn't help but feel hope stirring. However stumped the orcs had looked after that first explosion, it was nothing compared to now. They had retreated back out of arrow range for the time being and none of them seemed quite sure what to do. At the very least none of them were attacking and it meant that the defenders had a chance to rest. Harry had the feeling that the explosion had been the army's one big chance to get into the Deep… a chance he had now completely scuppered.

Or maybe not _completely._

Looking down at the wall, Harry realised that his hasty repair work was most definitely _not_ perfect. Whilst the majority of the wall was still there, it felt higgledy piggledy and slightly crumbly to the touch. He remembered the blasting curses he had used with a wince, realising that it was likely that even an overpowered _reparo_ like he had employed couldn't resurrect bits of the wall that had been blown to smithereens.

It was holding, however, and Harry carried on somewhat unsteadily towards Aragorn.

As he made his way across some of the enemy were becoming more organised, yelling at each other to form into rows. They seemed to be trying to lock some shields in place. To protect them from the arrows maybe as they approached the wall? Harry paused before quickly yelling " _Accio shields!"_ The orcs howled as their make-shift shields flew forward and struck the wall. They'd have to risk the elvish arrows to retrieve them now. Harry grinned and carried on.

"Harry!" Aragorn called, pushing his way along the fighters to join the wizard. "How fares Haldir?"

Harry made a face. "He's still alive but it… it doesn't look good," he admitted, feeling shame once more. He should have seen the orcs coming, should have cut them down before disapparating. "He's with Ginny."

"Ginny?" Aragorn repeated, startled. "What happened?"

"She got caught in the explosion," he said, pushing back the sick feeling that swelled as he thought of it. "She's ok, though, but can't fight. Not at the moment."

Aragorn didn't respond, simply gripped Harry's arm in understanding. "For now we must look forward," he said firmly. "The wall stands yet but it is not stable. Is there anything you can do to improve it?"

"No," Harry said, "the only thing I – _we_ – could do is apply a stronger warding. I think. I'd need Ginny for that and more energy – and time – than we've got right now."

Or would he? Harry paused, thinking about how he had repaired the wall just before. That had required no input from Ginny to stretch the warding. Could he do the same to the rest of the wall? Maybe… but only if he were desperate. If he pulled down all the warding then he _definitely_ wouldn't be able to put it back up on his own. That would have to wait until Ginny was better.

"Then we shall have to make do with defending it as best we can," Aragorn said, clapping him on the shoulder and unaware of his inner thoughts. "The orcs are wary now but it will be difficult nonetheless."

"And here I thought battles were supposed to be easy," Harry drawled with a grin at the startled Aragorn. "What I _can_ do is bespell the stones and ground in front of the wall, make it harder for them to get there," Harry offered instead. "You are needed on other parts of the wall, not just here. Go, we'll be fine."

Aragorn shot him a searching look before acquiescing and disappeared along the length of the wall. Harry didn't watch him go, already focussed on sending out a stream of spells in front of him. _Glisseo_ and _incendio_ were used extensively to make the ground difficult for the orcs to stand on. Feeling inspired by one of the few tv shows he had managed to watch at the Dursleys, Harry then used a controlled blasting hex to create several large ditches in front of the walls. He filled each one with a variety of different traps; freezing water; some of Hermione's favourite blue bell flames; transfiguring some stones into sharpened spikes (he felt guilty about that one but only vaguely. Battle had certainly hardened his attitude towards the orcs); even filling one with conjured snakes using _serpensortia_. The final touch was to cast a concealment charm; that way the orcs wouldn't see them until they walked into them.

Satisfied with his spell work, Harry looked up to find himself looking at a score of elves staring at him, waiting for his orders. Harry gulped and tried not to look too nervous. It was one thing to command the DA; it was quite another to have twenty, unearthly, beautiful elves looking to him for leadership, especially considering that the least of them was several millennia older than he.

"Erm, right," he said nervously. They just carried on staring and Harry had a sudden panic. "Er, you do speak English, right?" he asked, before realising that whatever language he was speaking, it definitely _wasn't_ called English. "I mean, you understand what I'm saying?"

One of the elves nodded sharply and Harry felt a sudden surge of relief. Thank Merlin. Quickly he explained what he had done and instructed the elves to try to drive the orcs into his traps. The elves, after much exclamation and several raised eyebrows, agreed and quickly went back to shooting their arrows.

In between shooting spells at the orcs and renewing the enchantments around his traps Harry grabbed a couple of the rapidly depleting arrows and began to duplicate them. _"Gemino, gemino_ ," Harry chanted, waving his wand as more and more arrows popped into existence. Drawing on the little he had learnt about runes that day, Harry tried to see if he could ward the arrows with extra strength. The arrows _seemed_ to take the ward – at least, they didn't burst into flames – but it wasn't until he saw one of them shoot right through an orc in full armour and then into another that he could tell the wards had worked. 'Istar arrows' became much in demand after that

All in all, despite the number of casualties, the earlier near miss and his worry about Ginny, the battle seemed to be going surprisingly well. The orcs were still stumbling into his traps, slipping into the fire or else were downed by arrows. After taking a short rest, Harry even apparated along the lines, adding enchantments to the rest of the wall. Some orcs were still making it over but they were few and far between. As he popped along the walls, Harry felt something rising around him, everywhere he went.

Hope.

 _~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~_

So Ginny is still alive (rather surprised that many of you wanted her to die. Poor Ginny. Such hate!) and Haldir isn't dead (yet) for those of you who asked me to let him live. I do like Haldir (although it might be something to do with loving Craig Parker 3) so he might survive his war wounds.

Just a note that as school starts back up this week my updates might be more like a week – week ½ in between. Generally I've been updating recently just slightly less than a week between but I can't keep that up once term time is in full flow. There WILL still be regular updates though, so don't worry! You'll just have to wait a bit longer for each section

As always, thanks for reading and for those of you who review. They are always appreciated (even those who want Ginny to die. Sort of!)

Love, Hannanora xxx


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